loki

While some may have had an expectation that they could simply drop in add-ons for previous sims, Asobo and Microsoft never advertised or claimed this as a feature. On the other hand they did say that they viewed this as a 10 year project multiple times in various interviews and updates.

To clarify, FSX Steam will install its own specific Simconnect version (each version of the sim had its own version), but some add-ons require a different one.

Nobody was banned because they didn't like a particular sim or tow some line, however, some members have had restrictions put on their accounts due to their behaviour.

No, Simconnect is included as described in the post previous to yours. You just need to run the installers manually after FSX is installed. The Steam edition of the sim works quite well, and has some minor improvements over the disc based version.

No, you don't need to purchase the sim again if you need/want to reinstall, at least when purchased through the MS or Steam stores.

Could you provide a bit more detail on what exactly you downloaded and from where? The last time this came up I took a quick look the issue seems to be on the Best Buy side, but not having bought any software from them, I am not 100% certain. Regarding MSFS, most people either buy it direct from MS through the MS Store app in Windows, or through the Steam store. In both cases you are able to download the sim as many times as you like, and even install it on multiple computers at the same time (only one install can be used at a given time, however). I suspect the Best Buy process was meant to get you a product key to redeem on the MS Store, but as I said above, I'm not 100% clear on their process.

There is an offline mode and the ability to locally cache the streamed scenery, so not hard to see where the idea comes from. The difference in the long term life of MSFS compared to other sims comes down to how they work. Provided you can keep the right computer, and possibly a VM, running, those other sims can run just the same as they do today or did in the past with no outside input well into the future (see the people still running FS2004 20 years after it was released, for example). With MSFS there is the very real possibility that at some point down the road that the servers providing the scenery will be shut down and/or the sim itself could be removed from the MS and Steam stores entirely. Similar situations have happened already elsewhere in the gaming world with games losing content or being removed from stores entirely. Whether this is an issue or not is up to the individual and how they value their investment and control over what they run.

Are you talking about a community mod for MSFS? Right now the only way to get add-ons on the Xbox is through the built-in Marketplace so until they open it up to freeware mods from any developer, the Xbox is going to be limited in this area. Currently looks like they have a target of sometime this year to implement the changes.

There's plenty of upcoming fixes and enhancements that say otherwise. Maybe they won't get to the ones that bother you the most right away, but they are putting a lot more effort into the sim than what a so called gamer would care for. https://www.flightsimulator.com/feedback-snapshot/

Don't see that bridge, but there is an add-on for the Dames Point bridge at Flightsim.to. Someone may make a mod for this one too. https://flightsim.to/file/26069/dames-point-bridge-jacksonville You can also file a bug report over at the official site too, which is where the developers are guaranteed to see the issue. Pretty sure they're well aware of the issues with how their AI based scenery process handles bridges.

No, there aren't nearly as many options for aircraft add-ons for MSFS right now compared to previous sims, but more and more are coming all the time. For an A320, check out the FlyByWire A32NX, which is free and open source, and is constantly being improved. https://flybywiresim.com/ On the scenery side there are a lot more options. There are a few free options in the File Library here, and lots more at the flightsim.to site. https://flightsim.to/ Orbx, Drzewiecki Design and other developers also have plenty of scenery options for sale too.

To get a better GPU you would at a minimum need to look at a RTX 2080, but preferably a RTX 3070 or, even better, something in the RTX 3080 family. You can find used RTX 2080s on eBay for $400, but many are well over that price thanks to all of the supply and price issues of the past couple years. For multiple 4k monitors, an RTX 3080 with more than 8GB of VRAM would be preferable, but the price is going to be around $1,000 right now, not $400. You're probably better off holding onto your $400 and wait a little longer.

No it isn't as good as the streamed scenery, however, it is still better than the default that came with FSX, especially for areas outside of the US. It also takes up more space than the default FSX scenery did.

The base sim also has a base set of scenery data for the entire world to use when the online scenery has been disabled or isn't available.

Yes, the Microsoft Store version of the sim can be installed on both PC and Xbox consoles. You just need to be signed into the same MS account in the Microsoft Store app on your PC that you use on the console.

There are no official Microsoft support people here (at least not in any official capacity). If you want official support, you need to head over to the official MSFS site and submit a request there. https://flightsimulator.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

I took a quick look at the Best Buy site, and it looks like you basically get a code to redeem through the Microsoft Store/Xbox app. So for future installs, it one should just need to go to the Microsoft Store on their PC.

Where exactly did you use the code and download the sim from? How did you delete it?

You're welcome! Have a look through the FSX forum here as well, as many questions about FSX Steam Edition have been discussed previously.

Yes, you can purchase and download FSX through Steam. You first want to install the Steam client and create an account. From there you can buy FSX and install it. By default the sim will be installed inside Steam's own directory structure, but this can be changed through the Steam settings under the Downloads section. For the offline mode see the guide below. https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E18-319B-E34B-B2C8

Are you sure it didn't take you to the Microsoft Store? Currently for me it shows ads for Netflix and other applications. Try opening the Microsoft Store from the Start menu, and then click the Library icon at the bottom left. From there you should be able to click Get Updates at the top right. Once the base sim application has been updated, re-open the sim and let it download the next batch of updates. Finally, after the sim is finished updating, go to Profile, then Content Manager in the sim, and download any content updates you see.

If you think you might ever want to run the sim on an Xbox, the only option is directly from Microsoft.

They did have a partially completed second AN-225 as well, though it would be hard to know if that was also damaged or destroyed too. The idea of completing it has been floated a couple times over the past few years.

Asus and LG are usually good ones to look for. This link has a couple options to check out. https://www.imore.com/best-cddvd-drives-mac

The Apple rep may have been confused and thought you were trying to install a copy of the Windows version. Running MSFS 2020 would require using Parallels, but on top of that you have to get the insider preview version of Windows 11 for ARM. As for the SuperDrive, if you haven't bought it yet, I would look around. There are cheaper options that work just fine with Macs. Note that while the new M1 based Macs are powerful, the caveat is that they're powerful for the amount of power they use. A high end gaming PC is still going to perform better than an M1 Mac Mini. Something else to note is that the RAM on M1 Macs is shared between the CPU and GPU, unlike traditional PCs which have separate system and video RAM. If you have an 8GB M1 Mac Mini, you could find yourself limited.