MSFS 2024 and Flightbeam

Fellow simmers and customers,

Like you I was blindsided by the announcement of MSFS 2024. Interested in getting some new info about Starfield like some other folks... I certainly didn't expect a the imminent nuclear bomb Microsoft was in the midst of dropping. Just as things were starting to settle down in the MSFS world with SDK issues, development pipelines and overall stability and popularity with hardcore simmers, the idea of a whole new sim coming out in 2024 is both perplexing and worrisome.

However, Microsoft has release some initial info after which I can make an initial assessment on where things will go in terms of Flightbeam products. With the current info given, it's safe to assume the following:

1. You will not need to re-purchase any Flightbeam products from MSFS 2020 to MSFS 2024

2. You can transfer your current license to the new sim, without any additional cost.

3. Any purchases made from now is also available to use in MSFS 2024 once released, at no additional cost.

4. Lastly, this has no effect on our current production.

One particular troublesome issue is once again the notion of MSFS users "freezing" any addon purchases until MSFS 2024. Please support your developers, this is our livelihoods, and the development funding of new products depend on your continued support. Thanks and be sure to hang on tight for this new crazy adventure!

Important: GSX Jetways and Flightbeam Airports

We've been getting quite a lot of support emails lately related to GSX. In fact, most of our support tickets are now directly related to GSX and the issues it causes. Unfortunately this also pulls us away from production of new airports due to back and forth emails, so it's important that we issue an very important support bulletin.

First, two very important notes to make:

1. GSX Jetways are NOT designed to work at 3rd party airports with custom jetways

2. Flightbeam Products are NOT designed to work with GSX Jetways

The biggest issue we are facing is customers are failing to exclude our airports and other 3rd party airports from GSX, which in turn causes GSX to replace both our gate positions and jetways. Customers then generate support requests, thinking that our product is faulty with incorrect jetway positions and visuals. We think that this should be handled better by GSX and FSDT in general, especially considering this generates negative reviews for us.

If you own GSX, you MUST manually exclude all Flightbeam airports from GSX. Failure to do so causes several product-breaking issues.

An example here is how GSX replaces NZWN Jetways, if no action is taken:

In this example, GSX autogenerates an incorrectly-placed jetway which is widely inacurrate for this airport visually, but also will fail to connect to your aircraft. The Wellington logo makes the customer assume we've made this jetway, generating a lot of support tickets and negative reviews. The aircraft also spawns in an incorrect position, since GSX has also generated it's own parking spots.

For more info, please do read the GSX manual: http://www.virtualisoftware.com/update/setup/fsdtroot/couatl/GSX/GSX_manual_MSFS.pdf

Also, visit FSDT for support, we do not provide any support on fixing GSX: https://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/board,73.0.html?PHPSESSID=oi8kggn0nvbgn44e3gjll4oggp

KSFO - Terminal 1 Previews

Finally some exciting previews for KSFO: Captain's Edition with some detail shots of the new Harvey Milk Terminal 1, which is an absolutely massive new section of the airport which replaced an aging Southwest terminal. In these previews you can get a sense of what kind of detail to expect from this product, which is being future-proofed as much as possible and includes some new state-of-the-art optimization techniques for smooth performance.

As always, screenshots highlight a product that is in growth and everything is subject to change. Not seen in these shots is the terminal's interior which is work-in-progress.