Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 chows down on around 81GB per hour streaming the data required to show the (very, very beautiful) world as you're flying through the game.
Flight Simulator 2024 streaming data demands up to as high as 180Mbps while flying, which places peak utilization at around 81GB per hour of gameplay at high LOD (level of detail) settings when flying over densely populated areas in the game.
Why the big change in downloads being used per hour? Microsoft and Asobo Studios -- in their infinite wisdom -- wanted to make the game installation size of Flight Simulator 2024, and in doing so, it really soaks down any and all of your internet, which is a huge problem. Flight Simulator 2020 demanded a 130GB to 400GB installation size, while Flight Simulator 2024 is reduced to just 30GB on your storage.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 used around 100Mbps in comparison, again, while flying through densely populated photogrammetry areas, like major cities. This could drop to around 10Mbps through lower-detailed areas, while the average bandwidth requirement was 50Mbps. But now that the Flight Simulator 2024 technical alpha is in the wild, it weighs in at just 9GB compared the full release of 30GB.
- Read more: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 requires 64GB of RAM for 'perfect' performance on the PC
- Read more: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 detailed: 4000x more detail, new Career mode, and SO much more
- Read more: Microsoft Flight Simulator boss: we have 2,500,000GB of aerial data, streamed from the cloud
Not everyone has 180Mbps+ internet, and even if you do... you can't be chewing through 81GB+ per hour, especially if Flight Simulator 2024 was the next game for you. You'd need unlimited data caps for that, and your internet service provider (ISP) is going to question where the hell 81GB+ per hour is going.
TECHNICAL Alpha Notes
- All text is in English, and other languages are not available.
- Online multiplayer is not available.
- Game modes are limited to Discovery, Career, Challenges, and Free Flight.
- Career mode is limited to initial missions and the Flightseeing specialization.
- Challenges mode is limited to one option at a time.
- The Marketplace and Activities (tutorials, training, etc.) are not available.
- Aircraft are limited to a few options.
- The aircraft configurator is not available.
- Achievements are disabled.
- VR is not available.
We are also aware of the below known issues:
- You may encounter obvious crashes, bugs, and issue.
- Loading times may be significantly longer than expected, in particular on initial boot. While a progress bar is sometimes not shown, the sim will continue to load-please be patient.
- When completing different activities in succession (for example, completing a Challenge, then launching a Free Flight), you may lose controller input.
- Workaround: Restart the sim.
- Peripheral default mappings are missing (in most cases). Gamepad and mouse/keyboard will function by default. Most other peripherals must be mapped using custom settings.