FlyByWire’s A380X is easily one of the most exciting aircraft projects currently in development for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The mighty superjumbo is set to receive a detailed rendition for MSFS from the same folks behind the excellent A32NX, and they now seem more open than ever to share their progress as the aircraft is starting to come into shape. Today, FBW published the first video showcasing all this work in great detail, and it’s a treat for the eyes!
The video, published on FBW’s youtube and shared below for your convenience, features the lead texture artist in the team (Mike) who takes us on an overview of his work inside and out of the A380. The developer says that the attention to detail that the team is putting on this project is “second to none“, and goes on to explain this.
The video previews the cockpit’s visuals extensively, starting with the highly-detailed 3D model and moving to the several layers of high-resolution textures. It’s a complex work that, if done correctly, is capable of generating the realistic visuals we’ve come to expect from a high-level project in Flight Simulator. This is very much what seems to be the case with the A380X, which already sports some truly fantastic graphics!
Moving on to the outside, this airplane continues to look great. Mike says that the same high-quality standard from the FlyByWire team is applied to the outside fuselage. Here, we can also see some animations in action, such as engine wobbling, wing flex, and more. Finally, the video ends with another very promising tone! The powerful roar of the A380’s engines can be heard in a takeoff roll, serving as a preview of the work being carried out by Boris, the talented audio specialist that collaborates with FBW (besides running his own project).
2023 will be a fun year as we watch this project come to life from FlyByWire. Make sure to watch the full video above to get an idea of what the team is building. It looks amazing, that much is true, but there’s no indication about when this is reaching simmers hands. We’re hoping to see a “flyable” build sometime later this year… but only time will tell.
