Microsoft and Asobo have rolled out the latest major update for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This new, relatively hefty 22GB+ update, dubbed World Update 4, brings with it scenery enhancements to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Various airports around each of these countries have been reworked, with some major airports getting a total handcrafted makeover like the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport. Dozens upon dozens of Points of Interest (POIs) have also been added such as various towers, castles, and other famous structures (with their being over 100 in all). Additionally, Paris (France) and Amsterdam (the Netherlands) both received photogrammetry-quality satellite imagery upgrades.
This is the perfect treat for any VFR sight-seeing players who want to take a low and slow look at these urban centers. Or, if you really want to get a close-up at the new visuals, perhaps you can whip out the neat new car mod for the sim and drive through these virtual cities.
More general scenery enhancements have been added to the sim, including improvements to the tree display distance and the addition of new water masks in more locations. Beyond the scenery, Asobo has also added in treats such as a new KLM livery for the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner and S7 livery for the Airbus A320neo. This is the first time that Asobo itself released liveries of real-world airliners for any of the aircraft to the public; perhaps there might be more in the future?
There are a few other little tidbits to this update that can be viewed on the sim’s official website. So far, World Update 4 appears to be behaving for most players. But, just in case, Asobo urges everyone to first clear out their Community folder of any add-ons prior to running the update to avoid any conflicts.
Future flight plans
Looking ahead to the very neat future, fans of Microsoft Flight Simulator will be treated to further enhancements of Europe—this time moving northward.
Coming this June, World Update 5 for Microsoft Flight Simulator will include upgrades for Nordic countries: Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. This update is going to be combined with Sim Update 4, releasing as one large package — something Asobo has never tried before.
The reason for this change is that the studio wants to reduce the number of builds and improve internal testing. Microsoft Flight Simulator has garnered a bit of a sour reputation for having updates that both fix and break various things, so this change is expected to offer a better experience for the end-users.
