The Fenix Simulations’ developer Dave shared the last development update 2023, showing the IAE variant of their famous Airbus A320 add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This development update covers some good news for the fans of Fenix A320.
Interior Previews of the A320
Firstly, Dave goes on to say that some issues still need to be resolved from Microsoft’s point of view, as it seems that there are simulator and SDK (Software Development Kit) limitations for developing such a high-fidelity aircraft. Despite that, the Fenix team has cleared out the “scariest” issues and the new A320 version now moves to the “wrapping up” development phase, and this phase is measured in weeks.
The team shared exactly eleven screenshots of the aeroplane, with both internal and external previews of the 3D model. Speaking of the interior model, the cockpit has received some changes, like thinner centre window pillar, side windows and even new cockpit configuration options, such as blanked-off DCDUs.
Some night-time previews of the cockpit were shared as well, and in these images, we can see the improved night lighting in the cockpit. There is a better dome light, new LCD simulation and some subtle improvements across the materials.
From the technical side of the perspective, the Fenix Simulations team also remapped the entire cockpit, to utilise memory more efficiently, resulting in improved performance in-sim. The whole texture set of the cockpit now floats below the size of 1GB, which is less than half the memory of the current Fenix A320 version.
Exterior Previews of the A320
The external previews show the IAE engine itself, which is going to be a part of the Block 2 Part 2 update of the aeroplane. However, the engine is not the only new thing. The team also worked on improved wings, wingtip fence, nose and the landing gear and tyres, which are now being compressed under the weight of the aircraft. Dave mentions that the team spent quite some time developing soft-body physics for tyres.
There are also close-ups of the engine, on which we can see the deformation under the engine’s heat and even dirty textures that improve the overall visual experience and don’t make the aeroplane look factory-new. The night environment is also improved in this upcoming A320 update. The wing light is now properly casting light at the engine and shadow of the engine to the ground.
Lastly, Dave mentioned that there is a new cabin and seats visible in one of the images. However, it is not certain if we are going to get a better glance at that any time soon.
Anything about the release date of this update wasn’t mentioned. The Fenix Simulations team is still hard at work on this new Airbus A320 update, and we might see some new information in the coming weeks. If you would like to learn more, you can also read our coverage of their previous development update here.
Source: Fenix Simulations Discord.
