Microsoft and Asobo released a new beta build of the upcoming Sim Update 3 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, numbered 1.5.3.0.
The build brings several enhancements, the most prominent of which are probably further improvements to AI traffic.
We also get bug fixes and stability improvements, a tweak for the Boeing 737-MAX, and more.
You can check out the major changes made to the game below.
Stability & Performance
- Fixed a somewhat rare crash occurrence of the model behavior parser due to recent changes making it run in parallel (was introduced in SU3)
- Fixed wrong usage of resized bitmap dimensions instead of original ones when sampling textures (fixes WASM gauges corruption on Xbox Series S and on PC with “Low” texture resolution)
- Fixed random live view leak for WASM instruments (could impact VRAM after multiple restarts)
- Fixed an issue where the selection cursor could disappear in the marketplace tab in the aircraft selector
- Fixed planes flares occlusion when using multiple windows.
- Fixed an issue causing incorrect occlusion of plane flares near screen edges.
- Resolved an artifact regression issue involving trees and fog rendering.
- Corrected the contact points to 0 to fix the aircraft (B737, DA-62, Extra330 and Hot air Balloon) sliding sideways during belly landing.
- Fixed incorrect wind calculation at the top of certain buildings and object structures that could happen in the Needles landing challenge and other places.
- Adjusted the sensitivity of the trim wheel.
- Fixed wipers disapear depending of the cockpit camera rotation
- Fixed fallback behavior when “empty_inertia_tensor” is invalid: now correctly reverts to legacy logic even if legacy parameters (“empty_weight_pitch_MOI”, “empty_weight_yaw_MOI”, “empty_weight_roll_MOI”, “empty_weight_coupled_MOI”) are missing.
- Fixed multiple issues related to flightplan sync between EFB, GPS, ATC and ribbons.
- Polished the panel border stylesheet
- Parked aircraft now have a better mix of planes and liveries.
- Fix remaining cases where unoptimized models would be used for AI Traffic.
- Adjust ratio of parked aircraft to be spawned and fix issues that can lead to overcrowded airports.
- Fixed a problem where parked aircraft had a chance to not fully load the model and stay invisible.
There are also several changes for developers, which you can read about in the full patch notes.
We recently learned that the full release of Sim Update 3 is scheduled for July 8, 2025, so there is likely plenty more coming.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is available for PC and Xbox Series X|S (albeit Sydney is only available for PC for now; it’ll likely come for Xbox when it releases on the official marketplace down the line). following its recent release in November.
If you want to see the massive visual difference against MSFS 2020, you can enjoy our video and screenshot comparison.
A few weeks ago, we published an extensive interview with Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann about the present situation of the sim and the plans for the future.