After weeks of waiting and even player testing, Asobo has finally released the latest major update for Microsoft Flight Simulator: Sim Update IV. This new release targets improvements in various aspects of the core sim, including updates to the AI traffic, weather, aircraft behavior, and more. The install size of the sim has also been greatly reduced to a mere 83GB instead of the massive 170GB+ download that many users have had to fight with since launch.
The patch list for this new update is pretty extensive, but we’ve gathered up some of the highlights.
Many changes and upgrades are on the way. Improvements have been made to the Air Traffic Control system and also the Live Air Traffic. ATC phraseology has been improved to reflect FAA standards (in wording only), and some Live Air Traffic traffic models will now better match the actual aircraft type that they’re supposed to be representing. The density of these aircraft has also been increased, along with better stability.
Heavy cargo
Weather is another area that players have paid lots of attention to, and Asobo has gone ahead and made some notable improvements. One big change is that the excessive icing effect on the aircraft models has been pared back, making it appear more realistic. On a similar note, the live coverage of snow conditions has been improved and the data bandwidth for all live weather has been reduced.
Of course, the actual planes in Microsoft Flight Simulator have also gotten some work done in the hangar after this update. Certain instruments and flight systems have been improved, such as waypoint navigation, updates made to the flaps, stall, and wing, and various improvements made to the engine logic and performance of the three turboprop aircraft that are in the sim.
Again, these are just a few nuggets of what the new Sim Update IV for Microsoft Flight Simulator has to offer. It’s available to download right now via the Microsoft Store and Steam.
The next update for Microsoft Flight Simulator will drop in June and will provide scenery and terrain elevation upgrades to the Nordic countries in Europe as World Update V.
