(Now with video!) Black Square announces Steam Gauge overhaul for default MSFS airplanes

Update, July 7th: Black Square published this week an impressive video showing both the Grand Caravan and the King Air sporting the overhauled cockpit. Watch it below to see this mod in action and learn exciting new details, such as the fully functional circuit breakers or a sneak-peek into the custom weather radar!

Developer Black Square, which recently made the rounds with the release of the Velocity XL for Microsoft Flight Simulator, has announced a new product range that has one very clear goal in mind: to update some of the default MSFS aircraft with a brand new steam gauge overhaul!

If you find modern glass cockpits in GA airplanes to be somewhat boring and characterless, then this new product series might be for you. Black Square is preparing a significant overhaul to a selection of default airplanes (the King Air and the Grand Caravan will be the first), replacing the stock digital screens with the more traditional analog steam gauges.

This new series will bring many changes across the board to select airplanes, with only the external models left unscathed. From the replacement of the glass screens by the aforementioned analog gauges to swappable radio configurations and improved systems, circuit breakers, enhanced aerodynamics, and more, this is planned to be a very significant functional upgrade to the high-quality visual models provided by Asobo to all users of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

These thorough makeovers will also bring a custom weather radar to the selected airplanes, along with support for the PMS50 and TDS GTN750 solutions, for those who can’t live with more modern conveniences.

While each aircraft will see significant changes across the board, Black Square promises that all existing liveries will be compatible, since this series won’t touch the external model. Besides, the original airplanes will always be available separately, unaffected by the modded versions.

The Grand Caravan and the King Air will be the first airplanes to feature this extended customization and analog overhaul by Black Square. Specific details for the changes in each aircraft are linked above for your convenience, where you can also see a selection of initial preview images.

Black Square promises that videos will also follow soon, so simmers can get a better idea of what to expect ahead of a staggered release of the two, which Just Flight, Blacks Square’s publisher, estimates will probably begin in late July.

Highlights:

•  Completely new interior and panel for the default MSFS aircraft, featuring analog instrumentation (steam gauges), swappable radio configurations, and an overhauled electrical system with every circuit breaker, bus, meter, switch, and knob functioning
•  Custom coded steam gauges with lowpass filtering, needle bounce, and physics to provide ultra-realistic and silky smooth animations like you’ve never seen before
• Carefully modeled components match the depth and character of the real instrumentation, based on reference photos, schematics, and real world measurements.  Unlike other expensive Flight Sim aircraft, every piece of equipment that appears in a Black Square aircraft is modeled after a real piece of aircraft equipment, and will behave the same way in its primary functionality.
• Every knob, switch, and button is interactable, along with its respective electrical circuitry.  Turn systems on and off or pull circuit breakers to see the impact it has on your generators and battery via the analog meters.  Automatic load shedding and standby generators are also simulated.  Many pieces of equipment respond correctly to electrical configurations with warning messages and diagnostic codes.
• Fully 3D cockpit lighting technology for every gauge and panel, with ambient bounce lighting for a more immersive night-time experience that won’t leave you fumbling around in unrealistically dark spots.
• Improved turbine dynamics (ITT, TRQ, Ng, Fuel Flow, Inertial Separator), battery charging circuitry, and AC inverters
• Selective state saving for radio selection, radio frequency memory, cabin aesthetics, and other settings
• Engine limit excursions that decrease engine health and will eventually lead to failure
• Crew/Passenger oxygen system that depletes according to pressure altitude, passenger occupancy, and the biological demand of each passenger based on weight
• Dozens of checklists with hundreds of items for normal, abnormal, and emergency procedures in textual form, and in-game, using the MSFS native checklist system with control and instrument highlighting.  If it’s in the checklist, it’s settable in the aircraft!