Virtual reality has topped Microsoft Flight Simulator's periodic 'wishlist' for some time now, with the team coming out today with a new episode of the Feature Discovery Series to show off the new tech in action.

They've also promised that virtual reality will be dropping on Tuesday December 22 with Sim Update 2.

"We are looking forward to this release and might even have a few surprises coming your way! Stay tuned next Tuesday for the release notes and more. As this is our final, official development update of the year, we wish you the happiest of holidays. Keep flying, pilots!"

The episode is hosted by Asobo's Francois Dacquin, who is a UX designer on the simulator. He begins by saying that although Asobo Studio are most experienced with consoles and computers, mixed reality is something the company is striving to add to their portfolio, with a specialised department to accomplish just that.

With this work, the studio have been able to pursue 'the most incredible, immersive flight simulator experience possible - without compromise.'

"In short, we wanted everything to be compatible with VR, from the cockpit interaction to the clouds in the sky... and we want it to be accessible to everyone."

Several new aspects have been added to the sim engine in order to accomodate virtual reality, including the ability for stereo rendering and a number of optimisations to keep smooth framerates in VR: he says they reduce CPU and GPU usage without suffering any loss in graphical fidelity.

OpenXR technology has been used by the developer to integrate VR into Microsoft Flight Simulator - OpenXR is an open standard and as such is supported by 'all the major headsets'.

They listed the following headsets as being compatible on launch (plus any others that have OpenXR support):

• Windows Mixed Reality Family
• Oculus
• SteamVR

The HP Reverb J2 will also be compatible on launch.

The video goes on to detail how to set up VR with the simulator.

All previously compatible hardware, such as yokes, joysticks and throttle quadrants remain compatible with VR in MSFS.

The in-sim menu bar has also seen a decently sized update, with windows now able to be resized as you see fit in the virtual reality environment.

"We look forward to getting your feedback and continuing this amazing journey with you. See you in the sky!"

Alongside the video, 2020's last development update was also provided, stocked with a new development roadmap, feedback snapshot and SDK update.

The development roadmap largely remains the same as previous, though a little more detail has been provided regarding the events of February - Sim Update 3 is listed as coming on the 23rd of the month and World Update 3: United Kingdom is expected on the 26th of January.

Lists of changes were also provided for this week's SDK update:

Developer Mode

• Now that we announced the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox for Summer 2021, work on GDI+ is focused on allowing the legacy XML gauges system to work on Xbox.
• The new console is almost ready to go. The last details are currently being tested and this rework will be available in a near-future release.
• A new airport lights system is available in the Scenery Editor. It is currently in the testing stage and will be delivered in a near-future update.
• As usual, the team is working on improving the overall stability of the DevMode at the same time, giving special focus to the Project Editor, the Scenery Editor, and the Aircraft Editor. The community’s feedback continues to be helpful in identifying & fixing bugs and thus making the tools better.

WebAssembly

• We modified the WASM loading sequence so that a flight cannot start before all WASM gauges are initialized.
• We fixed a clipping issue when using the GDI+ layer.

This will be the last development update of the year, with the next slated for January 7th, with new SDK and third-party updates plus a feedback snapshot. The next week, the tenth installment of the Feature Discovery Series is planned to be released.

You can see the source post for this article on the Microsoft Flight Simulator website.