Climb into your cold weather gear, we're off to Northern Europe and Greenland
I'm fairly certain that this will be the last World Update until 2024. While Asobo hasn't made any official announcements, the late arrival of this latest update would indicate it's unlikely that we'll get a Christmas present from them. Having said that, I see that a City Update is scheduled for December 19, whether that will be a single city or a collection remains to be seen.
World Update XV
I've been doing this long enough now to know how to install these World Updates. Yet for some reason, I was expecting the file to be installed automatically. The session began as usual with a small update to version 1.34.16.0, after which I went to the Content Manager to install the update. Sometime later, it finally dawned on me that the update is done by selecting it from the Marketplace, not the Content Manager. Unfortunately by then I had deleted the content in the Community folder, the Rolling Cache, Scenery Index files and I can't remember what else! I only mention this tale of woe in case anyone else has a memory as bad as mine.
New content
So what do we have on offer this time? Well, it has the usual collection of airports, cities, Points of Interest (POIs) and other goodies for us to enjoy. Also, this time, Asobo has returned to certain areas to add or enhance various items that were missed in World Update V: Nordics.
I understand many of these countries have received higher resolution geographic updates using significantly enhanced Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in Iceland, Norway and Sweden. These elevation maps range from 40cm to 5m per pixel, which has quite a marked effect on the overall appearance of the landscape. It closes the gap between the amount of detail you can see from a real aircraft on a clear day and what you can see in Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS).
New cities
This time, ten cities get the photogrammetry treatment including Oslo in Norway, Gothenburg Visby, Malmö and Linköping in Sweden, Aarhus, Copenhagen, Frederikssund, Roskilde and Odense in Denmark. I've never been a fan of photogrammetry cities but I must admit I'm slowly changing my mind. I think cities like Oslo look far better with photogrammetry than without it. The higher resolution and algorithms now being used create buildings that are far more realistic than they were before. It allows greater diversity as well because it's based on the original structural data. As a result, when flying over these areas, many of the high-rise buildings and other structures look handcrafted.
For example, in Malmö, prominent landmarks such as the Heleneholmsverket power station and the Hyllie water tower are easily identifiable, yet were constructed from the photogrammetry data.
Handcrafted airports
The handcrafted airports in this release are quite widely spread. They include Ivalo Airport (EFIV) in Finland, Akureyri International Airport (BIAR) in Iceland, Kiruna Airport (ENSQ) in Sweden, Leknes Airport (ENLK) and Mo i Rana Airport (ENRA), both in Norway.
I have been critical of some of the handcrafted airports in the past because many of them were somewhat underwhelming, often in remote areas and in some instances, featured little more than a single building. That's not the case in the selection we have this time; they are all of a reasonable size with fully modelled terminals, control towers and equipped with all the paraphernalia we see scattered around all airports. Also, you can happily wander around inside virtually all of the buildings, meaning, of course, that you can appreciate all the superb modelling that went into producing such highly detailed structures. So, it would seem that Asobo has finally listened to the complaints made in the forum about this issue.
If I had to make a choice, I would say that Kiruna is the most impressive of these, yet ironically it's the only one that doesn't provide full access to the buildings. The other minor issue I feel worth mentioning is that none of these airports include any static aircraft, giving them a rather unrealistic and clinical appearance. Of course, you can always purchase an add-on like Just Flight's FS Traffic to rectify this shortfall. Yet it would be better if there was an option for those who just want to see a few parked aircraft. It would also inject some life into these normally busy facilities.
Points of Interest
There are 90 POIs listed in this update but there are some that are not mentioned. For example, when I visited the Kiruna Airport in Sweden, I did so in my usual fashion of spawning the aircraft about ten miles out. That allows me to assess how good it looks from the air and how it blends into the landscape. Another benefit is that you might sometimes spot these unlisted significant landmarks or POIs.
That was the case at Kiruna, where my approach took me over the city. I could hardly miss the massive earthworks of the Kiruna mining complex. Also within the city stands a magnificent bright red rendering of the Kiruna Pastoral, which is an early 20th-century wooden church built in the Gothic Revival style. Neither of these highly detailed objects are mentioned in the documentation. That's not a complaint by the way. I only mention it to highlight that there's often more to discover than is published in the documentation.
In some areas, the designers have tended to focus on museums, churches, bridges and castles and to be fair, these are generally the most impressive structures to be found anyway. Although the same suspects are present here, this time we also have quite a diverse collection of arguably more interesting structures to marvel at.
They include the Rjukan-Notodden Industrial World Heritage Site in Norway, created to protect the industrial landscape around Lake Heddalsvatnet and Vestfjorddalen. It's an amazingly detailed 3D structure that's (almost) as good as being there.
Activities
While many of us concentrate on the improvements to the scenic elements in MSFS (including yours truly), it's easy to overlook all the work that went into creating the Landing Challenges, Discovery Flights and Bush Trips that form part of each update.
Bush Trips
As usual, the World Update consists of three Bush Trips. The first encompasses the Baltic coast of Demark and Sweden, flying either the Cessna 152 or the C172 Skyhawk. Next, there's the Greenland Exploration, a flight that starts at the highest point on the island (which is in fact the largest island in the world) and ends in Nuuk, the capital. It covers 972nm and will take you just over 8.5 hours. The final trip is titled Spitsbergen after the Norwegian island you depart from. It's the only permanently inhabited island in the Svalbard archipelago, which you will cross to reach your destination, Mo i Rana Airport (ENRA) on mainland Norway, a little over 1,000nm away.
I won't kid you that I flew all of these trips, because I only get a month to complete these reviews and my wife demands at least some company of an evening (if she can drag me away from my simulator).
Landing Challenges
These are always interesting because they provide that ‘I'll just give it one more try’ element. In this trio, you get to try your hand at a landing in Akureyri Airport (BIAR), lying at the head of one of the longest fiords in Iceland. You'll be flying the A320 Neo but be aware that part of the runway sits on a platform that extends into the fiord on an artificial peninsular, so take along your wellies.
If you're an avid glider pilot, this next challenge is for you. It begins six miles north of Ekeby Airport (ESSC) in Sweden. You start directly in line with the runway but you'll need all your skill to bleed off height and speed because the runway lies in front of wetlands and a railroad track.
The last challenge takes place at Norway's Mo i Rana Airport (ENRA). The aircraft chosen this time is the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. The trick here is to avoid the trees that inconveniently stand at each end of the runway. In fact, finding the airport in the first place seems to be the main problem in many of these challenges, so I usually scout the area first before I take the challenge.
Discovery Flights
I generally complete most of the Discovery Flights because they can introduce you to places you might not think to explore. There are so many beautiful cities and breathtaking vistas around the world, most of which we will never experience in the real world but flight simulator is the perfect vehicle for at least a glimpse of these wonderful places.
In this release, there are four Discovery Flights that naturally feature areas covered by the update. So, you have Bergen (Norway), Gothenburg (Sweden), the Faroe Islands (Denmark) and Reykjavík (Iceland).
In some respects, the Discovery Flight system can sometimes be restrictive because you can't switch off the town and city tags, so screenshots can become peppered with them. However, as a general method of introduction, I guess it's still a worthwhile option.
Conclusion
While my focus has been on the main new features in this update, there are other areas in Canada, the Nordics, New Zealand and Iceland that were addressed with improvements, bug fixes and additional elements. Even with the impending release of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Asobo seems committed to support the current version of MSFS.
By Joe Lavery
PC Pilot Verdict
At a glance: Once again, here we have a collection of places to visit and challenges to achieve from Asobo.
Publisher: Microsoft and Asobo Studio
Distributor: Microsoft
Price: Free with the latest update
Website: www.flightsimulator.com
Developer: Microsoft, Asobo and other non-specified contributors.
3D Modelling: Excellent
Graphics: Very good
Documentation: N/A
Performance: Very good
PC Pilot Score: 90
System requirements
Microsoft Flight Simulator
CPU: Intel Core i5 6600K at 3.5GHz or faster
8GB RAM or more
DirectX 12-capable graphics card from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel with at least 4GB VRAM
11GB additional hard drive space
PC System used for review
Intel i7 9700K 3.60GHz processor with Corsair liquid cooler
32GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM
Gigabyte RTX 4070Ti, 12 GB GDDR5 video card
1 x 1TB Crucial NVMe M.2 SSD
1 x 6TB Samsung hard drive
32-inch 4K iiyama monitor
