Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: Everything you Need to Know

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is certainly one of the landmark flight simulators out there and many fans didn’t believe it can be improved too much. Others feared that the next iteration will be turned into an arcade-like game without too much substance.

But now that we’ve seen Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, it goes way beyond anyone’s expectation while remaining a technical flight simulator that can easily be used as a training tool for upcoming pilots in real life.

What is new in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024?

Career Mode

First of all, there is a new Career Mode because the users demanded more interactions and tasks to perform in the simulator. We will not call it a game because the developers themselves insisted that this is a simulator, not a game. However, the Career Mode introduces that kind of game-like challenges that gamers certainly enjoy.

You will pick a place on the world map and you will have a mentor that will interact with your avatar for debriefing in cut-scenes along the way. You will also have a home headquarters and there you will see the missions you are assigned to, as well as the certifications and specializations you can work on to evolve your career as a pilot. Yes, you will actually need to pass certain exams to get those certificates. There are 3 millions of daily missions that refresh daily and you can pick from.

There is a certifications tree so, for instance, you can’t just jump over to flying a jumbo jet while you didn’t master the basics of light airplanes. However, if you’re a veteran pilot, don’t worry because the Career Mode can be avoided.

By advancing your career, you will be able to buy your own plane and start your aviation company, hire staff and pilots, and basically run your own business. Although this is not the main purpose of MSFS 2024, gamers will be happy to have a goal-oriented part to this incredible simulator.

There is also a Challenge League section with 3 missions updated weekly where you will compete with other users around the world. Moreover, in the Career Mode you will also have inworld missions such as taking photos of your environment, which can be exciting for some.

MSFS 2024 new aircraft

First, you should know that all the aircraft included in the MSFS 2020, are also in MSFS 2024, but some of them have been improved or redesigned. For instance, in the Standard edition, you will get to fly with 30 new aircraft and 40 redesigned/upgraded ones. These numbers go up to 45 new ones and 50 upgraded in the Aviator editions (read below to see all the available editions of the game).

The image provided by Microsoft highlights all the new additions, from which we would highlight the Northrup Grumman A-10C II, the controversial Boeing 737 MAX8, Airbus A321LR, and if you want to fly with a blimp, Airship Industries A600 is there to meet your demands. How about the monster Airbus A330 743L Beluga XL? You will be able to fly it right in the Standard edition as well.

But that’s not all, because you will also be able to fly a hot air balloon and simply enjoy the view.

Here’s a list of the new aircraft you will enjoy in the Standard, Deluxe and Premium Deluxe editions as highlighted by Microsoft:

MSFS 2024 Standard: AeroElvira Optica, Air Tractor AT-802, Airbus A321LR, Airbus A330 (-200, -300, P2F), Airbus A330 743L Beluga XL, Airbus A400M Atlas, Airbus Helicopter H125, Airship Industry Skyship 600, Archer Midnight, Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 747-81 (-8F), Cessna 400 Corvalis TT, CGS Hawk Arrow II, Cirrus Vision SF50, De Haviland Canada CL415, De Haviland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, Draco X, Erickson S-64F Aircrane, Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, Heart Aerospace ES-30, Hot Air Balloon, FlyDoo, Jetson One, Joby S4, Magni Gyro M-24 Orion, MX Aircraft Company MXS-R, Pilatus Pc-12 NGX, Powrachute Sky Rascal, Robinson R66, Stemme S12G, Zivko Edge 540.

MSFS Deluxe: Amphibian Aerospace Albatross G111/HU-16, Cessna 188 AGTruck, Cessna 404 Titan, Cessna 408 SkyCourier, Dornier Seastar,

MSFS Premium Deluxe: Airbus Helicopter H225, Beechcraft C90 GTX King Air, Boeing 747-400 Global Supertanker, Boeing 747-400 LCE Dreamlifter, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, Boeing CH740 Chinook, Pilatus PC-24, Pipistral Taurus M, Saab 340B, Zlin Aviation Savage Norden

MSFS 2024 in-game improvements

As we’ve mentioned above, the developers have outdone themselves in the game graphics and physics department. They characterize MSFS 2024 as the most detailed re-creation of planet Earth to date.

According to Microsoft,Tte simulation features enhanced digital elevation maps, over 500 TIN (triangular irregular network) cities and more than 100,000 square kilometers of countryside photogrammetry allow for visually stunning digital twin experiences.

MSFS 2024 includes more than 150 airports and 2,000 glider airports, 10,000 heliports, 2,000 points of interest on the world map. Because you will also be able to do utilitarian missions, the developers hand-crafter 900 oil rigs to access with a helicopter.

Although you have detailed view of only 150 airports and 10,000 heliports, the procedural system in the software generates all 40,000 airports, and 80,000 helipads to fly by. MSFS also features 1.5 billion buildings, and nearly 3 trillion trees.

But that’s not nearly all, because the simulation doesn’t stop at the flying simulation, but you can also get off the plane and explore the biomes around the plane. There are 27 highly detailed biomes to explore, with hundreds of species of vegetations and other natural elements, and all of them are influenced by seasonal changes in the environment.

And where there is vegetation, there are also animals, including the wild and livestock in and around the farms in al biomes.

Also, there is real-life traffic, both in the air, but also on the ground. The airports are full of people, the highways and roads are populated by cars, utility vehicles etc. Basically, Flight Simulator 2024 reaches a top level of graphics immersion.

MSFS 2024 requirements

For Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Microsoft has issued 3 types of configurations, including an Ideal Spec sheet besides the classic minimum and recommended ones that we see for any game. This is due to the fact that MSFS 2024 made a huge graphics-related quality jump.

You can still run it with a 4 GB of video memory graphics card and 16 GB of RAM. But if you really want to enjoy the high quality detail and smooth graphics and motion flow, you will need a 12 GB VRAM discrete graphics card and 64 GB of RAM, alongside of an Intel i7 14700K or AMD Ryzen 7 7900X CPU.

Being a huge game, the developers left some of the plane data in the cloud, so you will also require a strong internet connection, from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps, according to the level of in-game settings.

Game editions and prices

As you can see, there are 4 editions of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: Standard, Deluxe, Premium Deluxe and Aviator. Let’s break down what you will get in each one:

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Standard – 30 new MSFS aircraft, 40 upgraded aircraft and 150 upgraded airports – $69.99

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Deluxe – 35 new MSFS aircraft, 45 upgraded aircraft and 155 upgraded airports – $99.99

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Premium Deluxe – 45 new MSFS aircraft, 50 upgraded aircraft and 160 upgraded airports – $129.99

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Aviator – 45 new MSFS aircraft, 50 upgraded aircraft, 30 payware aircraft and 160 upgraded airports – $199.99

Apart from these, you can also buy a MSFS 2024 Limited Collector’s Edition that includes a metal box, a model plane, and a lot more perks from the Aerosoft website for $309.39.

The game will be available on PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X|S starting November 19, but you can preorder it now from the MSFS 2024 website.

We hope that we provided all needed information about the new Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, but if you have any questions, hit the comments section below.