Major Flight Simulator update finally brings VR support, new locations, and a ton of fixes

As promised in last week’s development update, Microsoft has released Flight Simulator Sim Update 2, bringing new content, much-awaited support for VR, a ton of bug fixes, and other improvements. The update bears version number 1.12.13.0 and is rolling out to all users now.

The first of the content additions are 12 new “iconic landmarks” which feature festive holiday lights that the company wants users to discover. The firm urges users to tweet these locations when they find them, adding that it has added three bonus locations depending on the update served to users.

The other significant announcement today is the addition of support for VR. Users with OpenXR-compliant Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) can now play the game in a virtual reality setting by heading into the in-game menus and enabling the feature. As for other in-game additions, there are new Sam and Rufus liveries – from the holiday commercial – for the Aviat Pitts Special S2S, new Airbus A320neo training missions, free Aviators club livery for all airplanes, and much more.

Alongside the free content, the firm has fixed a multitude of bugs and performance issues across the simulator. These include overall game performance, UI and audio fixes, improvements to the ATC, and a huge list of fixes for airplanes. There are fixes for issues reported with copilot behavior, avionics, and other optimizations, which apply to all aircraft. There are also aircraft-specific fixes for General Aviation planes and Airliners.

Here is everything new that’s been added with Sim Update 2:

NEW CONTENT

Virtual Reality is now available to all users as a free update for all OpenXR-compliant headsets! Visit the VR options menu in-game to enable the feature.

Two new training missions will help you take off and land with the Airbus A320neo.

Live Weather is enhanced with Meteo blue data to include snow and ice coverage.

Spotlight Event now features an Airbus A320neo Landing Challenge. See how well you do after training!

Sam and Rufus liveries for the Aviat Pitts Special S2S

Aviators club livery for all 30 planes available in the Marketplace for free!

Test pilot livery for all 30 planes will be granted to all Alpha and Beta testers!

And here are the complete list of fixes and improvements:

PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY

Fixed an issue where standard animations on air traffic planes could crash the game.

ATC memory footprint has been optimized

NAVIGATION/ATC

Fix choosing closed runway on the World map

Fix ATC pronouncing airport name letter by letter

Fix ATC giving wrong altitude if first approach waypoint has no altitude descriptor

UI

New Content manager menu

Reactivity” and “Extremity dead zone” parameters have been added to the device sensitivity screen

Copilot is no longer turned on through different play sessions

Visual help has been added to highlight instruments during tutorials

You can now map buttons / switches numbered higher than 30 using the Search option in the Input box

Scroll is now available for camera toolbar panel

In Controls Options, the profile description of a newly plugged peripheral is now displayed

Performance in the marketplace has been improved

Various accessibility issues have been fixed

Fixed VFR map becoming transparent when resizing

AUDIO

Ground SFX improvements on Textron aircrafts

Kinematic sounds improvements on aerobatic planes

Added seatbelt & no smoking chimes in airliners

Bug fix and polish on instruments, buttons and flight control SFX

Fixed no audio heard when aircraft flies over Outer marker beacon

WORLD

Fixed flickering clouds for some specific GPUs

Fixed sun flare flickering on certain occasions OR in certain situations

Reduced density of lights on secondary roads in the countryside

Fixed taxi ribbon displayed inside the cockpit

PLANES

All aircraft shared fixes and improvements

Plane models update and optimization

Fixing avionics / FMS validating next waypoint too early when flying

Fixed several aircraft going back to departure airport when approach is activated on G1000

Tweaked ground effect

Planes can land and roll on ice

Fixed warnings and alerts not resetting when instruments reboot

Fixed monitor a frequency in COM 2

Copilot behavior has been improved

General Aviation fixes and improvements

Fixed various plane oscillation and overshoot AP related issues

Fixed station ID visible on Garmin displays despite being not received by aircraft

Fixed issue in Garmin avionics preventing to fly a “direct to” after deleting the current flight plan

Aviat Pitts Special S2S: fixed turn coordinator not working correctly

Cessna Citation CJ4: fixed issues with displays not updating or freezing in certain situations

Cessna Citation CJ4: fixed right engine ITT red line badly placed

Cessna Citation CJ4: fixed missing last leg of a flight plan when finishing at a point of interest

Cessna Citation CJ4: fixed aircraft not intercepting and tracking VOR when NAV mode is engaged

Cessna Citation CJ4: fixed impossibility to turn yaw damper on

Cessna Citation Longitude: fixed incorrect fuel tank capacity

Cessna Citation Longitude: tweaked thrust settings

Cessna Citation Longitude: fixed aircraft empty weight and center lift

Tweaked fuel flow and ITT for Cessna Citation CJ4 and Longitude

Zlin Savage Cub: fixed too high oil pressure

Zlin Shock Ultra: fixed leading-edge slats incorrectly linked to flaps

Zlin Savage cub: fixed copilot not pulling the choke lever during starting engine procedure

Flight Design CTLS: fixed issue preventing validation of checklist step during starting engine procedure

Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan EX: fixed issue making the plane banking to the right when enabling AP

Daher TBM 930: fixed inconsistency between overspeed stripe on PFD and backup display

Beechcraft Bonanza G36: tweaked performances

Beechcraft Bonanza G36: tweaked manifold efficiency

Fixed spoilers too low deflection for Cessna Citation CJ4 and Pipistrel Virus SW121

Diamond DV20: drag and power adjustment

Extra 330LT: tweaked handling

Airliners shared fixes and improvements

Fixed radio frequencies not updating when changing them via the ATC window

Fixed old path not disappearing when changing flight plan in a direct-to situation

Improved radar altitude value refresh rate

Fixed waypoints sometimes appearing twice on PFD or navigation displays

Fixed duplicate waypoints in FMC / MCDU

Fixed various presentation and flow issues in FMC / MCDU

Fixed various graphic glitches in cockpit

Added various missing labels and stickers in cockpits

Fixed various cockpit model graphic details

Fixed various cockpit backlight issues

Fixed various issues related to the FMA

Fixed autopilot oscillations in certain conditions

Fixed multiple “direct to” issues

Fixed incorrect speed trend vector behavior

Fixed various tooltips issues

Fixed various issues with Mach management

Boeing airliners

Fixed various flow issues when navigating in FMC

Fixed yoke obstructing view depending on selected camera

Added FMC “PROG” page

Fixed seat belt sign switches not working (manual mode only)

Fixed radio / minimums / MDA selector not working

Fixed delta pressure on EICAS incorrectly displayed

Fixed missing altitude target markers on altitude tape when set above or below visible range

Fixed autobrake selector jumping to the most left or right positions when changing the setting quickly

Fixed LNAV ignoring arrival part of the flight plan in certain conditions

Fixed audio landing gear GPWS alert not being played when needed

Fixed discrepancies between world map flight plan and FMC/MCDU flight plan

Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental

Fixed limit markers on N1 gauges

Fixed missing ILS frequency set when starting a flight on arrival

Removed dashes displayed in the N2 value field when engines are not started

Fixed OAT indication in FMC perf INIT page

Fixed missing trim numeric value displayed on EICAS

Fixed wrong knob controlling FMC brightness

Fixed current Mach and target Mach values on speed tape not matching

Fixed IAS/MACH speed window on MCP remaining displayed when VNAV mode is engaged

Fixed various issues with landing gear model

Fixed missing EGT red start limit on EICAS

Fixed N2 green bar missing on EICAS during start sequence

Fixed incorrect start mode indications on EICAS during start sequence

Fixed incorrect stabilizer trim green band placement on EICAS

Fixed incorrect spoilers deploying during turns

Fixing issues with the plane flying above the glideslope in certain conditions

Fixed incorrect climb rate after take-off with VNAV enabled

Fixed too high fuel consumption

Fixed AP incorrectly tracking knots instead of Mach after Mach switch

Fixed missing command N1 indicator bar on EICAS

Fixed backup baro knob not switching to standard altitude when pressed

Fixed missing heater switch on copilot side

Fixed N1 slight oscillations

Fixed max rudder values to 10 instead of 35

Fixed compass model not matching reality

Fixed EEC switches incorrect default state

Fixed plane leveling off too early before reaching target altitude

Fixed flaps and slats deployment and retraction logics

Fixed switching to descent phase too early and corresponding managed speeds

Fixed Gross Weight field in FMC PERF INIT page

Fixed impossibility to set Zero Fuel Weight and reserve values in FMC PERF INIT page

Tweaked fuel flow when throttle is adjusted

Increased suspensions viscosity

Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner

Removed info incorrectly displayed when engines are not started

Fixed HUD horizon line not aligning with real horizon

Fixed APU fault light behavior issues

Fixed center tank fuel not going to lateral tanks when conditions are met

Fixed spoiler lever incorrect default state

Fixed AT button incorrectly lit by default

Fixed transition speed after take-off

Fixed TOGA mode engaging issue

Fixed altitude target possibility to be set to negative values

Fixed color and lighting issues on the HUD

Fixed various autothrottle issues

Fixed missing dividing lines on displays

Fixed missing magenta highlight on previous and next page FMC buttons

Fixed EXEC button not lighting up when needed

Fixed master warning and master caution buttons labeling

Fixed wind speed arrow color on ND

Fixed vertical speed color not changing according to current value

Fixed local time displayed in FMC instead of UTC time

Fixed missing wind arrow on PFD

Removed red chevrons on the FMC pitch ladder

Fixed wind wrongly reported on displays while on ground

Fixed airspeed box not highlighted in amber according to current airspeed

Fixed AP incorrectly switching to LOC/FAC mode after capturing glideslope

Fixed display format issues when pressing L / R switches

Fixed VSD button not marked as INOP

Fixed issues with cursor selection on navigation display

Fixed flaps that can be incorrectly extended above FL200

Fixed autobrake possibility to be set on RTO while airborne

Fixed MCP windows going dark in certain conditions during flight

Fixed incorrect fuel tank quantities

Fixed heading target line on ND frozen when heading hold mode is active

Fixed crossfeed valve open by default

Fixed issue preventing to change Zero Fuel Weight value in FMC

Fixed flickering shadows in certain conditions

Fixed aircraft overshooting speed target with VNAV enabled

Fixed climb rate too high after take-off with VNAV enabled

Fixed auto brake remaining active despite manual braking applied

Fixed impossibility to move throttle levers when engines are not running

Fixed missing or badly placed screws on various panels

Fixed fire panel switches bad default state

Fixing bulk switch bad default state

Fixed discrepancies between overhead panel switches states and lights

Fixed missing VS/FPA not displayed in MCP corresponding window

Fixed flaps speed marker issues

Fixed compass slightly not aligned with current heading

Fixed missing MIC field on PFD

Missing mismatch between PFD and MFD wind indications

Fixed arrows displayed instead of diamonds on localizer and glideslope scales

Fixed descent phase activation issue and corresponding managed speeds

Fixed incorrect target speeds during initial climb

Fixed too small font size on MCP displays

Fixed active VHF frequency on PFD

Airbus A320Neo

Holding MCDU clear button now deletes entire scratchpad line

Fixed predicted time in MCDU

Seat belt and no smoking sign selectors now working in manual mode

Improved MCDU display logic for cost index page in INIT page

Approach altitude transition field is now automatically filled up regarding the destination airport

Fixed THR RED / ACC indications in MCDU Init section

Fixed “NO TRANS”, “NO STAR”, “NO VIAS” not displayed correctly

Fixed constraint on navigation display blinking in certain conditions

Fixed waypoints marking incorrect colors on navigation display

Fixed wrong transponder code set by default when starting a flight

Fixed issues with Alpha and stall speeds

Tweaked FLX power settings

Improved flight director behavior

Fixed missing heading target value on navigation display and PFD

Fixed aircraft not flying green dot speed, F speed or S speed when conditions are met

Fixed spoilers too low max deflection

Fixed FMA AP mode colors

Fixed heading bug remaining displayed despite FCU heading window being empty

Fixed autobrake LOW decel lights always activated whatever the selected autobrake level

Fixed MCDU frozen after multiple flight plan changes

Fixed slats indication not aligned with dot on ECAM

Fixed issues with spoilers incorrectly deploying / retracting after landing

Fixed climb incorrectly resuming on its own instead of remaining to current flight level after leveling off

Fixed unrealistic parking brake selector animation

Fixed incorrect N1 value in cruise

Fixed rudder trim “R” font issue on pedestal display

Fixed spoiler surfaces not correctly aligned

Fixed engine starters default incorrect positions when spawning on the runway

Fixed MCDU not switching to DES phase when it should

Fixed managed target speed issues with flaps out

FIXED ETA not being updated in MCDU

Fixed SRS mode incorrect target speed

Fixed intermediate altitude constraints not showing on PFD

Fixed incorrect course shown in MCDU RAD/NAV page for LOC/ILS

Fixed constraints decimal issues on navigation display

Fixed issue with unlimited fuel assistance preventing aircraft shutdown

Fixed fuel crossfeed valve switch default states

Fixed radio screens going black when camera is close from pedestal

Fixed approach speeds

Fixed fly by wire error causing insufficient pitching during turns

Tweaked thrust performance and fuel consumption

Fixed ECAM too small font size

Fixed V1 marker on speed tape

Fixed various autothrottle issues

There is, however, one known issue with the update:

Aircraft can crash when landing on frozen water. You can activate the No crash mode in the dev mode menu to avoid crashes in this situation.

Overall, the update is a welcome one for users and fans of the simulator, especially during the holidays. The fixes to all the aspects of the game should improve the sim experience for all users. The Redmond firm has also confirmed that it will be bringing Flight Simulator to the Xbox Series X | S next summer, so console gamers will have to wait longer.