Tag: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

Windows 10 was End of Life – So I decided to go to Linux Mint using ChatGPT!

Paul
A fun illustration of a person stepping off a sinking ship with the Windows 10 logo on its sail, onto a bright, stable island with the Linux Mint logo. Bright colors, cartoonish but clean, eye-catching.
A fun illustration of a person stepping off a sinking ship with the Windows 10 logo on its sail, onto a bright, stable island with the Linux Mint logo. Bright colors, cartoonish but clean, eye-catching.

Windows 10 = End of Life updates

We knew this was coming a mile a way.   It’s been advertised by Microsoft for years now and I just didn’t like Windows 11 and how they were wanting everyone to have an account to be able to use Windows 11.  I shouldn’t need to link my account and that is one reason I “Jumped Ship” to Linux Mint.   Don’t get me wrong, I use Windows 11 at work and I have no problem with it in my organization but Microsoft has very little information from my work life to my personal life and I am going to keep it that way.  Since Microsoft is wanting to prevent users from making local accounts, I0 decided it was time to go check out some other operating systems like Linux Mint.

Using ChatGPT to help Installation!

I knew with my own built system, I built this desktop from mother board to GPU and Intel cpu.   I knew I would have some issues with the installation of Mint to this system because it isn’t a prebuilt or one that is built by any companies.  Let me be clear my system was built by me 3 years ago and it has been solid ever since the real issue is that the Mint is a lot of time developed for prebuilt systems, Asus, Dell, HP, and even Microsoft computers.    It’s not something that will be a lot of issue for most because if you have a laptop or desktop that is pre-built then it most likely will install without a problem but my system has some special needs.  I need it to do Video editing, Gaming, and even word processing from time to time.   That’s where ChatGPT was really helpful.    I didn’t have to go searching Google or Bing for how to solve issues like my video drivers and my KeyChron Keyboard which is AWESOME with this setup.    Don’t get me started on Getting Resolve Video editing to be able to work with Linux but Chat GPT walked me through how to setup all the things I needed for me to be able to do what I needed.   It even suggested ways to install the software from

Apt-get  update to Apt-get Install
  Or from the
Software Manager

First Impression of Linux Mint

It’s really not bad and I have a Good Geoforce RTX 3050 that is working just fine with the video drivers that I installed using ChatGPT.   Gaming on it might be a bit different but most of my games including Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 are working just fine using Steam and Proton.   They’ve really did do a good job with that and making it more available to the Linux Community is strangely getting better and better every day.  I’ve used ChatGPT to help install Microsoft Flight Simulator even though there is people who have talked about how to get it to run on ProtonDB but it would of been harder to do without using ChatGPT to help install and get the game running smoother than it would have in previous years.   The graphics for the game are top notch even now using the Graphics drivers and it even has seen some better FPS on MINT than  Windows 10.   So I can’t say I am looking at this without saying it is getting better.

 Final Thoughts on Mint

If you’re staring down the “End of Life” message on Windows 10 and wondering what to do next, Linux Mint is absolutely worth trying. The learning curve is real, especially on custom-built hardware like mine, but ChatGPT made every step from Nvidia drivers to DaVinci Resolve, way easier than digging through old forum posts.  What surprised me most is that not only does everything I need actually work, but in many cases it works better. My games run smoother, Resolve is stable, and my Keychron keyboard feels like it was built for Mint. If you’re on the fence about switching, let me just say this: I wish I had done it sooner.

In my opinion I’d say give a few Linux Operating systems a try and decide which one is best for your situation and know that at the end of the day.  Your data is kept away from Microsoft now that you are using a free operating system.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 – Not recommended (Day 5)

Paul

 

Microsoft Messed up this game!

I honestly think Microsoft really did work hard at getting this Flight Simulator out before the end of the year and this is the results of their determination to release.   Some of the things people are having the problems with this game is suddenly returning to desktop and other issues with the game if you are using playing on the desktop.   I haven’t heard as much of problems on the XBOX gaming systems but I suspect that was how Microsoft wanted it.   However, I do think the Cloud idea was an idea and wasn’t the best idea.    I much preferred to download the game blob like I did with MSFS 2020 but they want to do it from cloud.   I have yet to get any good playable graphics like they show on the movies.

Career Mode

Great Idea and I love the idea of learning what it really takes to become a commercial pilot and to PPL(Private Pilots License).   I am glad to actually see how you would do it and the walking around the plane is good for the first few missions but is it required for the rest of the missions and flying?  I don’t know it is a necessary thing if you are truly flying the plane to check the plane before you fly it.   So I get the idea and how it is something a real pilot will do.  Doing all the things you learn from becoming a pilot may help you in actually becoming a pilot.  So I can’t say this isn’t a bad idea or part of the game.

World Photographer

Great way to explore the sites around the world and are a combinations of the MSFS 2020 and probably some new places in MSFS 2024.  So it is great resource for those who want to fly a plane and see these places.  You can probably walk around the explore them on foot in if you know how to do it.   However this isn’t anything new because it was somewhat available on the MSFS 2020 and was free for all to download.  I still don’t like the idea of using being maps to create the terrain on MSFS 2024 and I have yet to explore the idea of switching to something that has newer terrain images like Google or some other provider.

All in All

This isn’t really a better version such as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.   For the most part it can take anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes to load the game because it being used in the cloud.   Multiple people complaining about how bad it is or put up a negative review of it on steam.   If Microsoft and Asobo wants to make this game better they will need to put out some major updates to address all the crashing and have the game utilize peoples GPU to make the game work even better and make it look like the intro videos that they show while the game loads.   Don’t get me wrong they are doing it in a way to draw people into wanting to play the game but I have a pretty good system myself and I have a 30 series GPU so it should be able to do everything that video is looking like.   However that isn’t the case and it will probably never look that way since the game is being played from the cloud and we aren’t able to use the graphics that they want us to use for the game.    This will be like the Last of Us and the graphics will eventually get better or at least become more stable to not be a problem.  However Microsoft kind of ruined the game by releasing so soon when they should of worked harder at making it a better experience with their customers.  I’m going to sit back and take a waiting stance they fix all these problems that users are complaining about and then I will decide if this is better than MSFS 2020 but for right now it’s not even close.  MSFS is winning in my mind because I don’t have to worry about the game loading and crashing all the time.

Game-Changer Alert: Microsoft Flight Simulator on Steam Deck – A Dream Come True!

Paul2 Replies
Golden Gate Bridge – Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 by Bhautik Joshi

You might be asking yourself, can you play Microsoft Flight Simulator on the Steam Deck?  The Answer is Yes you can and here’s how you would do it.

Before Installing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

Before we even begin installing the game onto the Steam Deck, we shall have to do some things to better make it more likely to run. You’ll probably need at least a minimum of 256 gb of space on the NVME.  I have tried to use the SD card that is was was fast read but slow in writing and that caused problems with the game.  You’ll need to have something that can do fast writes and that would require a NVME or some way to use an external hard drive that you can plug in while you play the game on the Steam Deck.   However if you don’t have the room due to it having a small amount of storage to begin with then I have some good news.   Amazon has started selling NVME that are 1gb of space for around 60$ to 70$.  The Minium hard drive you should use is a 512gb then you should be able to install the game.  The Game requires a massive amount of space that including the world updates that come along over the years which are free. So you want to upgrade your SSD on the Steam Deck, huh? I created a good blog post on how to do it even more but this is about the game and you should at least get the biggest Hard drive you can and that would be a 2 terabytes NVME which does cost a lot but would allow you to have the game and other games installed.

How I did it

Now we get to how I did it because this worked with me, I got a copy of the Steam deck OS image and re-imaged my Steam Deck.  You’ll want to use Rufus or some other imaging software to create a boatable USB drive and boot into that the Steam Deck.  This is the best approach to make sure you have enough space for a the game if you only have a 512gb installed and it is also good just wipe the hard drive because you never know what files are left after you installed a game or not.

If you are doing the install my way, you should update the OS once you boot into the Steam Deck. Log into your account as if this was your first time using the Steam Deck and check for OS updates in the settings.  Don’t install any games yet because you should also be using a Dongle of some kind or dock to speed this process up a bit.   You can use wireless but it will more than likely take twice as long and that can be time consuming to say the least.

It’ll take while to install the game

It’s like a 130gb or a bit more to install the game once you have installed the initial game from Steam which is like 3gb or so.   Make sure to install it on the main hard drive and don’t select the SD card because it will not work more than likely.   It took me about 3 or 4 hours of just keeping the system active while it was download the packages from Microsoft which uses AWS(Amazon Web Services), so the speed isn’t going to be fast.   I would say if you are on dock plug in a mouse or something and occasionally move the mouse while it downloads from Microsoft.   Again this can’t be helped no matter how fast your speed is on your network.   However before you click on the game the first to actually download the files you are needing to install from Microsoft, you should go into the properties and select the Experimental.  This is under the compatibility menu in the game.   You’ll need to make sure that is selected and experimental proton was downloaded from Steam before you can run the game.  Also you’ll need to add the -FastLaunch in the launch options settings.

Community Files on the Steam Deck

Does the steam deck have a community folder for Microsoft Flight Simulator?  Yes it does.  So you want to add your community files you have on your Windows Systems to the Steam Deck, the good news that can now be done on the Steam Deck.   You’ll have to go into Steam Desktop and navigate to the right folder.  Once you do that grab a USB that has the files on them and put the USB into an empty USB slot.  Once done, open up the drive and folder where you put the community folder in and copy all the contents not the folder into:

Where’s the community files located on the Steam Deck?

Go to your steam deck desktop find the home folder.

Before you can find this folder, you’ll need to hit Control + H to show hidden folders and files.

/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1250410/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft Flight Simulator/Packages/Community

You’ll want to have a fast USB drive to do this because I am sure the community files will be more than 10 gigs of space at least that is how much mine was, so using a USB 3.0 device is something that helps you move the files over quicker.   However that just depends on how much you have to copy over.   Once that is done you can boot back into Steam environment or just reboot the system to get to the steam menu like before if you aren’t that knowledgeable about this that is one way to do it.

Finally I suggest you just start installing all the world updates you want it just depends on how much space you have on the NVME.   If you have a 2gb then you can possibly install all the worlds and that would be around 300gb of space or something like that.   So you just have to be mindful of that and also which community files you want to install on the Steam Deck. Once you have did all this you can begin to play around and setting it up the way you like to play the game.  On Battery power I would assume it will last around an hour and half on the LED Steam Deck and the OLED probably a bit more since they have a bigger battery.  I haven’t had a chance to see how long it will last on the Steam Deck on battery but I would just be mindful of that and have the overlays showing you how much battery power you have left.

Have fun and if you enjoyed the blog post consider subscribing

P.s. on a side note someone was asking if Microsoft really did use AWS.  I did do a check on this on my desktop and they are going to the AWS servers:

ec2-54-225-216-74.compute-1.amazonaws.com