Third-party developers have shared a ton of news for Microsoft Flight Simulator today, including looks at upcoming aircraft and scenery add-ons.
SC Designs shared a development update with screenshots of its F-16 Fighting Falcon.
“Big news for all you Viper fans! After going through the many ( many! ) requests made by followers over the past few weeks, I have added a number of new features to the Fighting Falcons that should, I hope, keep most folks happy.The first addition is that of Conformal Fuel Tanks to all of the models, which are selectable via the Auxiliary fuel tanks setting in the in-sim payload menu. These CFTs will appear when filled with fuel, but will only vanish if manually set to 0 contents ( just like the wing tanks ) so they don’t disappear off the fuselage when fuel flow switches to internal tanks while in flight.
The second addition is the return of the IFF “box cutter” sensors on the Falcon’s nose. These are made visible via the IFF Selector switch in the cockpit, allowing the user to decide whether they appear or not on the fuselage. Although the Falcons are not modeled with particular blocks in mind, this option I feel does enhance the variety of the product a little further. The aircraft will also be coded to carry AMRAAM missiles on the wing-tips, as well as AIM-9s, as a few fans asked for this to be added.
Finally, the SC Designs F-16 Fighting Falcons package will now include the F-16I “Soufa”, the Israeli version of the aircraft. It will share the same twin-seat cockpit arrangement as the “D” version, but the exterior is notably different in a few ways in this export version, which mirrors other foreign operators operating similar F-16s, such as Singapore and Pakistan.
A few more paint schemes have been added, and the F-16s are now with Sim Acoustics having their custom sound packs created. Further additions will be customizable pilot helmets, faces, and flight suit patches, which will be added in the coming weeks to complete the package. I’ll be writing the manual in the meantime, while flight testing continues through November in the run-up to release, which I can now reveal will be with Just Flight in the first week of December 2021. The Marketplace and console version will follow soon after, but waiting times will depend on Microsoft’s team ( they’re currently some months behind schedule it seems ).
The F-16s will be priced the same as DC Designs’ F-14 Tomcats, at £24.99 ( $33 ) for all three aircraft, and the paint kit will of course be included at launch for those of you who love to create liveries ( the package will already come with at least ten liveries ).”