Sim Update VIII (Patch 1.23.12.0) and also referred to as SU8 within the community, was a simulator update for Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) released on the 2022-03-01. It was originally scheduled to release 2022-02-22, but was delayed slightly.
New content[]
- New marketplace interface, including a map displaying available airports with improved discoverability and a better navigation experience
- New Private Match game mode to Reno Air Races is available via the Content Manager and allows customization of aircraft performance, number of laps, in-race assists, and time of day
- New optional propeller simulation system with hundreds of moving surfaces covering the propeller realistically simulated has been implemented on 3 planes
- The Cessna 152, Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan EX, and Beechcraft King Air 350i now use the new propeller simulation system. This improves propeller effects such as p-factor as well as feathering, prop drag, etc…
- A new spotlight event Landing Challenge is available for you to fly featuring the Citation CJ4 landing at Reno Stead Airport
General bug fixes[]
- Fixed a crash on Xbox when connecting a yoke
- Fixed a crash when signing out of the Xbox Live account while loading a flight
- Fixed a crash in the World Map
- Fixed a crash when using a filter combination in the marketplace
- Fixed a rare crash for waypoints that could not be found
- Fixed a performance drop when the default audio device was used
- Fixed missing textures for the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner and the Cessna Citation Longitude on Xbox only
- Fixed planes with new prop system crawling backwards with brakes and full throttle
- Minor bug fix and text updates in the Marketplace
- The default binding for rudders with VR controllers has been changed to avoid input interferences with other devices such as HOTAS and prevent control freeze when hovering cockpit panels, menus, and glass cockpits
- Fixed position / location of in-flight menus resetting themselves when returning to cockpit view from external view in VR
- Fixed animation of Prop Beta on Prop with ID value under 1
- Higher stall speed have been tweaked for the Pilatus PC-6 Porter
- Fixed cloud save operations for FLT files
Stability[]
- Several crashes have been fixed across the title
- Ongoing performance optimization work
- Lower GPU consumption when installing packages while the sim is booting
- Lower GPU consumption when the main window is minimized
- Fixed framerate drops on DirectX 11 when the player have multiple external windows
[]
- VOR-DME and DME are now differentiated on the world map
- TACAN channels are now shown on the world map
Weather[]
- Improved Multi-Metar visibility ingestion
- Fix issues where live weather could take up to 5 minutes to download
- A newly created preset on the worldmap now properly loads in-game when clicking Ready To Fly
- Fixed an issue where gusts could actually decrease wind intensity
- Improved thickness of clouds on overcast
- Fixed QNH altimeter in live weather
- Fixed an issue that prevented live weather from being available at 00h00 Zulu
VR[]
- Several bug fixes and improvements on cockpit and panels interactions with VR controllers
- Multiple throttles are controlled simultaneously with VR controllers
- The yoke is not frozen anymore when a panel is hovered
- Input from other peripherals are recognized while an in-flight menu is open
- The toolbar is easier to reach with VR controllers
- VR controllers are not detected as new device every game session
- Default pilot camera position updated in several planes
- Volumetric lighting effects are fixed
- HUD is not in the middle of the field of view anymore in Reno Air Races
- Various fixes in the game flow in Reno Air Races
Audio[]
- On PC, main device output and communication device output can now be managed from the options menu
Accessibility[]
- Added Convert from Stereo to Mono option on Xbox
Activities[]
- Fixed some issues related to assistances that prevented unlocking some Achievements (including My Way)
- Weather and flight plan save data are now part of the cloud save
- Always save user data when closing the game on PC, including closing the window or using Alt+F4 (local profile, logbook and data usage)
- Fixed the improper failure in the Take-off Flight Training tutorial
- Fixed the aircraft jolting on the runway of the First Solo Navigation Flight Training tutorial
Reno Air Races[]
- Pilot avatar legs can be seen outside the aircraft
- Fixed crowd sounds not playing in some situations
- Fixed missing Crew Leader localized voiceover
- Various art fixes on the aircraft models
Planes[]
General[]
- Fixed weather radar not updating in flight
- Better ground ice formula for ice shelves on water
- Added ground ice debug display in wheel debug screen
- Baro Minimums are now settable through a key
- Radio Minimums are now settable through a key
- When selecting half bank mode on the autopilot, a green arc displays the max bank on the atttitude indicator
- Corrected an issue preventing the animation of joysticks in default planes
- Corrected an issue that would cause Reference Altitude Increment/Decrement commands sent by peripherals to bypass the plane-specific logic.
- On the Airbus A320neo this means that the plane will not immediately climb/descend to the new reference altitude
- Made the ON & OFF Keys of the Nav & Taxi lights callable from Reverse Polish code
- Fix scrolling mismatch between pitch scale and horizon on all Airliners' PFD
- Fix all airliners Flight Path Vector behavior
- Display backup on G1000 is now functional
- Fix "Don't Sink" aural warning on GPWS equipped aircraft triggered after a touch-and-go
- Add a Reset Tag in the panel.xml parsing
- Fixed G1000 approach selection list not opening when one of the approaches available have no runway number in its name
- Duplicate waypoints list is now sorted by distance on G3000
- Fix G3X procedures popup not closed when Flight Plan window is closed
- Active pause now effectively stopping heading indicator
- New FLT parameters "tailwheel_lock" and "nosewheel_lock" implementation
- Master Caution/Warning are now handled with SimVars and keys and can be exposed in SimConnect
- Afterburner FX wasn't displayed on multiplayer aircraft
- Afterburner can now be enabled when using a peripheral which send increment keys by releasing that key at max and then pressing it again
- Corrected an issue that would cause the sonic boom sound to trigger in unwanted situations
- Fixed muted AI aircraft sounds in cockpit view by using legacy or WaveData pipeline -Corrected an issue which caused external camera angles to be missing from the camera menu
- Corrected an issue that would cause the cockpit camera to go outside the plane when using custom cameras
- Corrected an animation issue on the inner altitude Knob of the AS1000
- Adding cfg parameters to allow plane to reset the state of the autobrake on full stop for either RTO or autobrakes landing
- Fix AP annunciation that was not going away on G1000 PFD after manual disengagement
- Corrected an issue that caused the airliners to switch to a new selected altitude directly when using keybinds rather than interacting with the knob
- Reduce delay when inserting waypoint into flight plan from instruments
- New FLT section [Hydraulic Parameters.x.0] and parameter HydraulicPressure (value in psf) added
- Transponder behavior fix for the AS21 instrument
- Reverse thrust animation fixed for all affected aircraft
- Corrected an issue which caused the camera to move incorrectly in the hangar
- Fixed procedures page on G1000 & G3X that could not be interacted with when an approach had been selected and automatically switches to next item in the procedure page
- Added HOLD HUD VIEW & TOGGLE HUD VIEW shortcuts to the controls list, allowing to quickly access the dedicated HUD views in relevant aircraft
- Garmin GPS: Prevent airport icons from flickering
- Fixed payload slider sometimes couldn't validate the change
- Fixed passengers sounds being heard in cockpit view
- Fixed AP warning sounds playing in unwanted situations
- Fixed missing cockpit interaction foley sounds
- Live traffic AI planes should now take off when applicable
- New "wing_engine_wash" parameter allows to scale the effect of engine wash on wings
- Added COM ACTIVE FREQ NAME and COM STANDBY FREQ NAME
Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner[]
- The user can set the minimums (barometric or radio) and the audio cue "minimums" will be triggered when reaching the corresponding altitude
- Ground speed displays only when switching speed mode to MACH
- Corrected flaperon dropping on takeoff
- Track line on ND is now displayed in expanded view
- Speedbrake lever behavior correction
- Fix RNAV approaches not displayed after a flight restart & fix autotune of ILS approach when selecting an airport as arrival without selecting any approach
- BFMC NavRad minor label fix
- Waypoints can be inserted into FlightPlan in LEGS page
- The user can set the Minimums (Baro or Radio) and the audio cue "minimums" will be triggered when reaching the corresponding altitude
- Ground speed displays only when switching speed mode to MACH
- Corrected flaperon dropping on takeoff
- Track line on ND is now displayed in expanded view
- Speedbrake lever behavior correction
- Fix RNAV approaches not displayed after a flight restart & fix autotune of ILS approach when selecting an airport as arrival without selecting any approach
- BFMC NavRad minor label fix
- Waypoints can be inserted into FlightPlan in LEGS page
- AT/DISC button can now be interacted with
- Various liveries issues fixed
- Some holes in cockpit fixed
- Improved wingflex on LOD 5
- Rain effect and icing on cabin windows improved
- Various cockpit decals/holes/buttons issues fixed
- "Airspeed Low" warning is now amber instead of red
- Corrected an issue which caused the emissiveness of the Master Buttons for cautions to be detected as warnings and warnings as cautions
- Add the Flight Path Vector
- Activate the FPV push button
- Add Vertical Speed indicator
- Fix horizon line HUD visible too far left/right and up/down
- Horizon line on PFD no longer overlaps with altitude and airspeed tapes
- MFD L/R button behavior correction
- Added a dedicated HUD view
- Fixed HUD layout being off screen
- Minor typo fix CDU Arrival page
- Minor typo fix Navigation Display
- FMA should properly display V/S mode when AP is off
- Autopilot now uses current airspeed when switching to FL CH
- Autopilot HDG HOLD no longer behaves like a toggle
- SPD mode is now activable while AP is off
- Corrected an issue which would cause the external power switch to display the wrong emissive values
- PFD speedbug is no longer smoothed
- PFD chronograph can now be reset
- Fixed displaying V1, V2 and VR when spawning in air
- Fixed autopilot engaging speed mode when engaging vertical speed mode
Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental[]
- The user can set the minimums (barometric or radio) and the audio cue "minimums" will be triggered when reaching the corresponding altitude
- Ground speed displays only when switching speed mode to MACH
- Corrected flaperon dropping on takeoff
- Track line on ND is now displayed in expanded view
- Speedbrake lever behavior correction
- Fix RNAV approaches not displayed after a flight restart & fix autotune of ILS approach when selecting an airport as arrival without selecting any approach
- BFMC NavRad minor label fix
- Waypoints can be inserted into FlightPlan in LEGS page
- Cabin windows icing improved
- Some knob animation issues fixed
- Spoilers animations fixed
- Fixed some issues on textures/decals
- Airframe LODs 2 and 3 improved
- Exterior lights on LOD 5 added
- SYS FAULT stays illuminated even if overhead lighting is set to off
- Fixed various lights behavior
- Fix ILS indicators on PFD to match the display of the Boeing 787-10
- Corrected an issue that would cause some lights to light up the top of the aircraft when the landing gear was retracted
Airbus A320neo[]
- Cockpit camera collisions fixes
- Various liveries issues fixed
- Various minor art issues on the airframe and cockpit
- Fixed art issue on the lateral captain panel
- Disappearing landing light at distance fixed
- Split the flaps-inhibit cfg parameters in an AND and an OR version, and set the aircraft to use the AND version as it should rather than the OR it is using currently
- Add heading target bug on PFD
- Fixed MCDU F-PLN page unable to select arrival procedure when departure and arrival airports are the same
- FMA goes back to initial status after aborted TakeOff
- Active waypoint should be displayed in white on ND and MCU
- Fixed combustion sound level in idle
- Fixed landing lights retraction
- ND weather brightness setting knob added
- Update the low fuel annunciations to have realistic values
- Heading/Track knob no longer de-syncs when rotating quickly
- Fixed panel backlight too bright
Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet[]
- Glass HUD draw order fix and color update
- Some holes in cockpit fixed
- Cockpit shadows improved
- EWR instrument aliasing with distance fixed
- Landing lights not bright enough fixed
- Icing added
- HUD now display autothrottle status
- Heading selected in HSEL mode of autopilot is now updated when moving the switch
- Trim reset behavior corrected
- Fuel system rework to use all tanks
- Multiple fixes: ATC approach mode behavior, aileron trim button, auto shutdown, exterior lights and AP disconnect
Pilatus PC-6 Porter[]
- Fixed G950 Compass
- Fixed covered switches not moving when cover is closed
- Fuel system valve fixed
- Ski lever is no longer inverted
- Attitude indicator bars separated
- INOP markings to G950 autotrim and yawtrim added
- G950 fuel quantity indicator fixed
- Idle control lever set to high when flight starts on runway or airborne
- Windshield heating added to defrost knob
- Invisible gust lock removed from classic versions
- Prop contact point added
- Other changes to flight_model and minor bug fixes
- Attempt to fix battery, generator and avionics power on when loading cold & dark
- Classic mode:
- Fixed Avionics switch going back to ON all the time
- Fixed Ignition switch on when loading cold&dark
- Fixed front wheels clipping into ground on float version
- Improved trim instrument with 3 gauges instead of a simple version
- Fixed thermometer on the copilot slider
- Fixed environment occluder on the G950
- Fixed shadow propeller-fixed camera collision
- Additional minor art and texture fixes
Cessna 172 Skyhawk[]
- Cockpit camera collision fixes
- Icing windows transition with distance improved
- Transition between LOD 4 and LOD 6 improved
- Corrected an issue that caused the VOR2 needle not to animate properly
Pitts S-1S[]
- Fixed various gauges issues
Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan EX[]
- Various liveries fixes
- LOD transition in the cockpit improved
- Airspeed indicator fixes
- Corrected the behavior of the Deice switches
- Yaw damper behavior added
Beechcraft King Air 350i[]
- Added cabin light
- Optimized LODs
- Corrected an issue with the elevator trim animation
- Correct direction of elevator trim tab
Cessna 152[]
- Fixed interior lights setting
- Fixed aliasing issue in the cockpit
Cessna 152 Aerobat[]
- NAV 2 disconnected (INOP)
- Outline on cockpit decals fixed
- Decals moving with the ailerons fixed
- Icing windows transition with distance improved
- Light disappear with distance fixed
- Correction icing for the right window
ICON A5[]
- Placards and airframe model fixes
- Livery issues fixed
- Cockpit camera collision fixes
- Water effect added
Cessna Citation CJ4[]
- Airframe texture fixes
- Optimized LODs
- Fixed pulse lights behavior
Daher TBM 930[]
- Cockpit camera collisions improved
- Registration number issues on some liveries fixed
- Corrected issue which affected the usability of the flaps lever in VR
CubCrafters XCub[]
- Cockpit camera collision fixes
- Fix baro knob on attitude backup display
Diamond DA62[]
- LOD transition of backseats improved
- Gravity Gear Extension handle added
- Alternate Air handle added
- Steady white navigation lights added
- Added navigation lights and updated strobe lights
- Fixed avionics switch not shutting off screens
Beechcraft Bonanza G36[]
- Landing light disappearing in the distance fixed
- Registration number missing fixed
World[]
- Fixed windmills red lights intensity
- Fixed sun light glowing above horizon at midnight
- Fixed hangar flickering in some occasions
- Fixed trees wind animation
UI[]
- Various minor UI fixes
- Better handling of non unicode gamertag in Reno and free flight. Previously, the gamertag was usually left blank in multiplayer
Peripherals[]
- A new Tobii setting menu has been added
- Fixed unable to save custom sensitivity settings for axes of Thrustmaster HOTAS One on Xbox
- Fixed second hatswtich name for the Velocity one yokes
- Fixed the Quickview assignments for the Honeycomb Alpha yoke default profile
SDK[]
- Removed useless console messages about files being modified in the PackagesMetadata folder
- Ctrl + left-click now behaves as expected in the Scenery Editor
- Packages should not fail to build anymore if Marketplace data is not specified
- The camera is not reset to top-down view anymore when adding new objects in the Scenery Editor
- Fixed "leftLighted" and "centerLighted" parsing for taxipaths in scenery editor
- Creator preview now gets back one level if needed when DevMode project changes
Devmode[]
The size-on-screen computation for LOD selection has been made more accurate for close-up models. In practice, this means higher-resolution LODs will be switched to sooner, and LOD0 will always be displayed when the camera is inside the bounding sphere of the model
- For glTF model texture lookups, only use the filename part of the image URI instead of the full relative path. This makes it so exporters can conform to the glTF specification without breaking texture lookups and vice-versa
- Added new column "Total Vertex Count" which shows the sum of Static Vertex count and Skinned Vertex count in the Stat profiler. The Vertex/Max Vertex ratio column now uses this total vertex to compute the ratio
- Added a new Hiding option in the Hiding menu, to hide objects with no active occurrence in Stat profiler
- Fixed crash when opening a project that contains non-built packages while their installed counterpart is currently used in game
- Removed Xbox LOD selection mode as it currently behaves identical to the PC version
Visual Effects Editor[]
- Added the Rename action to the File menu
- Automatically selecting new nodes after duplicating or copy-pasting nodes in the graph
- BETA mode removed for the Visual Effects Editor!
- Cloning an effect no longer replaces non-default material GUIDs in Output blocks
- Fixed crashes when triggering an FX through the Spawner while the user's aircraft is still being loaded
- Fixed the crash when deleting one of several Emitter blocks connected to a VisualEffect block when the effect is spawned
- Fixed the issues on VFX that could happen after ablock has been unlinked, then linked again
- Fixed the large & blurry FX name's display in the Spawn tab of the Template Instances/Debugger window
- Removed trailing dashes in node/block creation list
- Selection highlight feedback no longer mismatches the node selection after certain manipulations
- SimObjects listed in the Spawn tab of the Template Instances/Debugger window now show a name instead of a number
- The unit drop down menu in the SimVar node now lists all units and their various names
- Fixed: Node deletion no longer deletes links outside of the selection
- Node GetGroundAttribute no longer has Position child properties
Scenery Editor[]
- Added a way to add projected mesh without airport
- Added missing warning "Projected Mesh exported with scaling", same as translation and rotation
- Added support to COM frequency
- Improved jetway display
- Apron: UV manipulation with gizmo
- Control towers now keep correct hierarchy level and name upon saving and loading a Scenery file
- Fixed a crash when deleting several taxipoints
- Fixed a freeze when selecting the sim object list
- Fixed color artifacts on ground for greenish grey (compress with more precision in grey)
- Fixed light heading in light rows. Various fix for light presets
- Fixed light rows not working on airports without runways
- Fixed polygon based objects (Painted lines/Area, Aprons, Light row) having incorrect altitude upon loading a Scenery file
- Fixed rectangle apron not updating properly after rotating them and undo
- Fixed snow and cast shadow flag not applied when lods are streamed
- Fixed undo/redo in the color extractor
- Fixed use of control point when using Bezier Curves in the Scenery Editor
- Fixed User Lights display
- Improved Vasi edition
- Locked child of control tower for more consistency and coherence
- Made a new terraforming system available in the DevMode menu
- Made rotation of squared apron cumulative with rotation of its texture to avoid weird jumps of rotation when changing both rotation of the apron and rotation of the texture
- More precise rotations for runways
- Polygons: Added exclude feature points. Fixed landuses lights not excluded
- Quicker edition for taxiways
- The right click popup doesn't open anymore if you have no object selected, to avoid conflict with camera mouse controls
- Removed obsolete options (HOLD_SHORT_XXX, XXX_ORTHO, etc) from the Painted Hatched Area 'Type' property
Aircraft Editor[]
- Fixed Infinite loading when using Save&Resync in the Aircraft Editor
- Fixed transparency of debug window of aicraft editor
- Added "Drag" and "Ground Effect" entries in the Debug menu which give access to the corresponding debug windows
3ds Max exporter[]
- Restored babylon property windows in 3ds Max plugin
- Added property to the Asobo_material_UV_options schema
- Improved performance of MultiExporter opening, fixed UI that stay in fron of the screen
- Added possibility to disable the motion blur on a specif object in the 3dsmax renderparam material section
- Added ASOBO_material_disable_motion_blur in the gltf schemas
- Fixed Scattering/MipFog not applied on Glass material
- Updated gizmocollision GLTF schema
Material Editor[]
- Fixed purple textures when loading a MaterialLib asset group in the DevMode
- Various improvements of the Material Editor UX
Project Editor[]
- Fixed crash airport wizard. Fixed airport created with null altitude
- Main & Secondary Thumbnail in Marketplace are now facultatives
- Removed Name attribute from AssetPackage tags in Package Definition XMLs written by the Project Editor
SimConnect[]
- Added new SIMCONNECT_WAYPOINT_FLAGS
- Enabled AILERON and ELEVATOR event through simconnect
SimVar Watcher[]
Updated the simvar watcher to add the following features:
- Add a search bar for Simvar names
- Select default unit when a simvar is selected
- Support string value request
- Display only compatible units
- Add Top Menu
- Add a copy Value / Name / Unit when right click on a SimVar request
- Add Icon
- Add Remove all option in contextual menu
Known issue[]
- If you are using a VR headset, please make sure that the V-sync option is not set lower than 60FPS to avoid negative performance impacts.