Prepar3D
Microsoft released the first version Microsoft Flight Simulator in 1982. In 2009, Microsoft ended further development of Microsoft Flight Simulator and sold the source code and intellectual property to Lockheed Martin. Under Lockheed Martin, the software was further developed to be not just for entertainment but also used as a professional simulation training platform for aviation professionals, military personnel, and academic institutions.
Historically, Prepar3D has been the most popular foundation platform for sophisticated and realistic flight simulators, both for hobbyists as well as professional training simulators.
Prepar3D has more specialized user base for robust and customizable flight training. It is a mature product. It allows for specific specifications to show an exact number of degrees for field-of-view, to accurately reflect the external airport and world appearance for the external displays.
Some disadvantages of Prepar3D is that is external airport and world graphics are far less detailed. There are occasional issues with generated scenery, such as light poles, that are in the middle of taxiways. Also, the software seems to have not been robustly improved over time to take advantage of multi-core CPU processing. Consequently, the primary CPU core is usually operating continuously at 100% and the resultant frame rates are sometimes suboptimal, especially if scenery settings and graphics detail are increased.
Many companies have developed add-on products for Prepar3D that improve graphics and extend functionality. ActiveSky incorporates real-world, real-time weather into the simulation. Orbx and Flightbeam are two companies that have developed extensive scenery add-ons. However, anytime an add-on product is used, it has disadvantages such as additional cost, integration with Prepar3D, need for keeping such products updated to new versions, and a decrease in the simulator frame rate.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
In 2020, Microsoft released “Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020” , developed by Asobo Studio. This product was developed to be run on a desktop computer and used mainly for entertainment purposes. Despite a high degree of realism and amazing world scenery graphics, it was initially not used for sophisticated home flight simulators. This was primarily because of limitations in integration with dedicated aircraft simulation software, such as ProSim737, and the inability to display external world graphics on more than one display.
However, as the software evolved and matured with later versions, integration became adequate for the interfacing required by ProSim737. Additionally, an experimental feature was released that allowed the external world graphics to be displayed on multiple modules. MSFS 2020 began to be used with some hobbyist flight simulators.
The main advantage of MSFS 2020 is stunning visual graphics the depict real-world scenery and airports that are highly realistic. The software application has base graphic data for the world, but as the simulated aircraft moves, additional detailed scenery data is downloaded and cached for use. A second advantage is automatic real-world data integration for weather, aircraft traffic, date, season, and time of day. Finally, the software code appears to be written with a higher degree of efficiency and performance, so that the resultant frame rates are possibly better.
Some disadvantages of MSFS 2020 are it is primarily written for entertainment audience. Therefore, it is downloaded and installed in Windows 11 as a “game.” Its integration with ProSim737 is functional but not complete. Also, the experimental multiple displays do not allow for precise specification of the field of view for each display. This has been worked around, to some degree, with approximations developed by the home simulator community. Another disadvantage is the flight dynamics seem less realistic. Finally, MSFS 2020 requires an active broadband internet connection for mandatory updates and scenery downloading.
Nosewheel steering is an example of the limitation of MSFS 2020 due to its primary intended audience of gaming. A typical desktop gaming setup will have rudder pedals but not a dedicated steering tiller. Therefore, MSFS 2020 configures rudder pedal input to allow the aircraft nosewheel to turn at an angle of 78 degrees with full rudder pedal deflection, so to allow the ability to make sharp turns when the aircraft is taxiing. However, this creates an issue with directional control on takeoff because the rudder pedals are extremely sensitive and not realistic.
In the real aircraft, the maximum nose wheel turn angle for rudder pedal input is limited to about 7 degrees. There is a separate control in the flight deck, called a steering tiller, that is used for sharper turns when taxing and maneuvering on the ground. The steering tiller will allow the nosewheel to be turned up to 78 degrees. Most hobbyist home simulators are equipped with a steering tiller in the flight deck, so to have the flight deck realistically simulate how the real aircraft operates, a separate utility application, such as RudderFix, must be installed to work around this limitation.
Conclusion
I initially configured this simulator to use Prepar3D when it was completed in 2019. In 2024, I did install Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and used it for approximately a year. However, I almost switched back to Prepar3D recently due to frustration with a perception that the aircraft flight dynamics are not as realistic, inability to set a specific weather visibility, and lack of weather radar on the ND display.
However, after looking at add-on airport scenery availability for Prepar3D v6, this gave me pause. I also looked at the the frequency of updates of the ProSim737 flight model, and saw many updates over the last year and none for Prepar3D. So I have ended up deciding to stay with MSFS 2020 for now.
I am aware there are workarounds that allow for entering specific weather as well as getting the weather radar display to work, but I like to keep the simulator running a clean and lean as possible to minimize software conflicts with version updates and also to maximize frame rate.
So for now, it is still MSFS 2020.
