MS FS 2020 will be Released on August 18th on PC

So Ms have anouncde a launch date with three separe\te editions of FS 2020

https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/13/21322499/microsoft-flight-simulator-pc-launch-august-18th-pricing

There a 3 versions

Microsoft Flight Simulator: Standard - £59.99 incl. VAT

Microsoft Flight Simulator: Deluxe - £79.99 incl. VAT

Microsoft Flight Simulator: Premium Deluxe - £109.99 incl. VAT

Which are all digital downloads

It will also be available as in retail off the shelf version that comes with 10 DVD's, with each version costing about £10 extra

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-07-15-microsoft-flight-simulator-comes-on-10-discs

Now I am a little confused. The digital version they claim is only 20 GB in size.

Yet the retail version is over 90 GB.

So the question I am asking is does anyone know if the digital version when downloaded expands to 90 GB once it is installed?

or is it that buying the retail version mean that you have scenery and maps stored on your hard drive and the software does not have to stream that scenery and maps while flying in the sim?

I find this hard to believe being that we were told that all scenery added up to peta-byte of data.

Has anyone got more information on the differences between the digital versions and the off the shelf versions?

From what has been released so far, the only difference between the online and disc versions is the installation medium. Once installed, the sim is identical.

The sim has multiple scenery modes, one of which is a complete offline mode for when there is no internet connection available, or the connection is too slow. In the system requirements, it says 150GB of hard drive space is needed for the sim, which would include the offline scenery files.

As for the 2 petabytes, that is the amount of raw data they used to generate the scenery, not the final amount that will be streamed to end users. Although what will be streamed will still be a sizeable amount of data.

I ordered the Premium Deluxe on disc from simmarket myself. Since the sim is only in English, language won't be a problem. Just hope there are no issues with DVD region codes coming from Europe to USA. Guess that's mostly for movies though.

I only see 6 discs though even in the Premium Deluxe. Where are the 4 other discs?

From what has been released so far, the only difference between the online and disc versions is the installation medium. Once installed, the sim is identical.

 

The sim has multiple scenery modes, one of which is a complete offline mode for when there is no internet connection available, or the connection is too slow. In the system requirements, it says 150GB of hard drive space is needed for the sim, which would include the offline scenery files.

 

As for the 2 petabytes, that is the amount of raw data they used to generate the scenery, not the final amount that will be streamed to end users. Although what will be streamed will still be a sizeable amount of data.

On this link they claim only 20.24 MB disk space is required. obviously a typo I hope.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/microsoft-flight-simulator-standard-preorder/9nxn8gf8n9ht?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Its seems there is no clear indication of exactly how much disk space is actually realistically required if you dont have a 50mbs internet connection.#

I'm in Ireland and the internet can be patchy at best. Typically getting between 20-30 mbs when the internet doesn't decide to drop for a few seconds totally randomly 4 or 5 times a day. Murphy's law will probably mean that might happen during take off's and landings:(

Hoping to upgrade to a fibre connection in the next few month or so once it has been rolled out to our area.

I was hoping that there would be an option to download the scenery for the airports and routes that you most frequently use.

I'm wondering if there is any advantage to buying the retail version.

If there is the option to download scenery that you frequently use then the digital version will be much less hassle. My PC does not have a DVD drive so would have to buy one if I bought the retail version, I would be happy enough with that little additional expense if it gave me something that the digital version does not have. Disk space isn't an issue any more 1TB NVME drives are relatively cheap now.

Euogamer.net says 10 DVD's and they show a photo of them as well.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-07-15-microsoft-flight-simulator-comes-on-10-discs

On this link they claim only 20.24 MB disk space is required. obviously a typo I hope.

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/microsoft-flight-simulator-standard-preorder/9nxn8gf8n9ht?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

That's either a typo, or just referring to the initial download that later downloads the full sim.

I was hoping that there would be an option to download the scenery for the airports and routes that you most frequently use.

There is! Check out the Discovery Episodes on YouTube, in particular, the first one talking about the world.

Thanks

I had forgotten about that video.

Link here for anyone one else that wants to see it

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 - Feature Discovery Series - Episode 1 (World)

So I would assume then there is absolutely no advantage to having the retail 10 DVD version unless you have no internet connection whatsoever.

Quite happy to have my PC downloading for hours on a once off basis, if that gets round intermittent internet glitches.

I wonder how much data the Whole of Ireland and the UK would take. Going to give that a try just for the giggles as soon as I get it installed.

So I would assume then there is absolutely no advantage to having the retail 10 DVD version unless you have no internet connection whatsoever.

Yep, once installed they will be the same. And as the sim is updated and patched, the disc version will slowly fall behind. By fall behind, I mean a new install from the discs. When installed it will get updates over the internet, though there is no telling how large those updates could be.

I ordered the Premium version directly from MS.

The confirmation email says “available Aug 17th” :)

Yep, once installed they will be the same. And as the sim is updated and patched, the disc version will slowly fall behind. By fall behind, I mean a new install from the discs. When installed it will get updates over the internet, though there is no telling how large those updates could be.

The same can be said of a original FS2020 download as well. It will fall behind as well necessitating one to re-download the newest version.

I just remember trying to install Pilot's FS2010 Global scenery mesh one time. It came with BOTH a download link and they also sent you the DVD set in the mail. I tried downloading the huge files and they failed several times, so I just waited for the DVD's in the mail.

Not to mention I get a book :rolleyes:

The same can be said of a original FS2020 download as well. It will fall behind as well necessitating one to re-download the newest version.

The difference is that if you have to reinstall, the digital version will just download the latest version, while the disc version would install from the disc, and then require downloading digital updates. After some time, those updates could be pretty big, causing problems for many who bought the disc version due to poor internet connections. Ongoing updates will be automatically applied to the digital version, meaning it will always be at the latest version.

Don't we already have a release date thread?

Anyhoo… almost certain I'm only buying the standard edition, can't really justify an extra £50 for a few prop planes and one modern tubeliner plus airports that will more than likely still look reasonable in their default version.

At the moment as regards purchase, I'm inclined to wait and see if MS also release via Steam. Most of my current games (apart from EA titles) are on that platform and I really don't want another DRM jacket with associated passwords etc. on my PC if I can help it. If the boxed version makes an appearance on Amazon UK, I might be tempted by that, though.