The sequel to 2022's Microsoft Flight Simulator, with more activities, more planes, and more things to do - including a career mode! And also a much less painful self-updating process (yay!).
Achievements are broadly similar in scope to the last game; some simple objectives, and some grinds - but not as bad as before (no 1000 hours this time!). Nothing missable, as is typical for this kind of game.
Note; Longer missions in the career are more lucrative, but take a while - use time acceleration to get there quicker. On PC, press Alt+R to enable sim rate controls and then numpad +/- to speed up or slow down time. There's no visual indication of what acceleration is in place; so the most reliable way to reset is to spam '-' lots of times then press '+' four times; the slowest possible time speed is four ticks from default so this method goes to slowest and then returns you to 'normal' time.
Skipping missions also has a credits/XP penalty - but only if you skip in the air. You can freely skip the first two steps (on the ground), and the step at the end after landing and reaching Short Hold with no credit/XP penalties at all.
Note 100% is impossible at the moment because the last two certifications needed for Overachiever are not in the game yet.
Complete a flight in any game mode
Complete a flight in any game mode
Just start a flight, any flight, and its yours. It's impossible to play the game without getting this.
Complete your first tutorial training mission
Complete your first tutorial training mission
This can be done as part of the Career
Achieve an A grade in any base Training mission outside of the Career
Achieve an A grade in any base Training mission outside of the Career
Pick the first training mission in the list. Smooth flying and follow the instructions - this is easy enough to unlock. If you struggle, come back after more practise in the career or elsewhere.
Earn your Private Pilots License in the Career
Earn your Private Pilots License in the Career
Once you start your career after the initial flight you'll be able to take your PPL certification flight - although some landing practise first is recommended.
Perform a touch-and-go landing at 2 different airports in a single session
Perform a touch-and-go landing at 2 different airports in a single session
A touch-and-go landing is where you land at an airport, but instead of stopping just keep going down the runway and take off again, without stopping.
To do this twice in a session, pick two airports close to each other on relatively flat ground and it'll be easy enough. You can use any plane.
Take a photo in World Photographer, using photo mode
Take a photo in World Photographer, using photo mode
Easy to do at any time - just go into World Photographer and take any photo. It doesn't have to be a 3-star perfect photo.
Enter photo mode with either LB+RB on Xbox, or Shift+V on PC.
Create your first company in the Career
Create your first company in the Career
Once you've got a commercial license, just grind for cash to 25k credits and then the game will let you create a company. However recommend you wait to 35k credits and create a cargo company as cargo missions are much more lucrative
Complete all Basic Handling, Take Off and Landing, and VFR training missions
Complete all Basic Handling, Take Off and Landing, and VFR training missions
These can all be accessed off the main menu in the game, and you'll want Aced It! for getting an A grade in at least one of them. The in-game menus make it easy to keep track of and work through them all.
Take off from an airport and land at another in an aircraft you own
Take off from an airport and land at another in an aircraft you own
As soon as you create a company (for Entrepreneurial Spirit) you can purchase a plane and use it on a mission to unlock this.
Note; choose a Cargo company (not Flightseeing)!
Have a rank in each active weekly Challenge in the Challenge League
Have a rank in each active weekly Challenge in the Challenge League
Just go into Challenge League and complete each of the three challenges shown at the time - once you've done them it'll pop. This can be done anytime.
Complete 10 weekly Challenges in the Challenge League
Complete 10 weekly Challenges in the Challenge League
See also Thrillseeker - and note you can repeat the same challenge for continued progress (i.e. you don't need to wait for fresh challenges when they refresh each Monday).
Accumulate 50 hours of total flight time
Accumulate 50 hours of total flight time
This is a good amount of flying, but nowhere near as much as was required in the previous game. A lot will come naturally as you progress other achievements - particularly the Career mode - but basically just don't hurry, and enjoy the view!
Purchase 5 aircraft in the Career
Purchase 5 aircraft in the Career
You'll buy your first aircraft as soon as you get to create a company for Entrepreneurial Spirit. Creating a cargo company is recommended as cargo missions are far more lucrative than Flightseeing.
Buy more planes as you progress and earn more credits!
Walk or run for 5km total
Walk or run for 5km total
Walking is new for 2024. Your first opportunity to do so will be immediately as you start career. Run around, a lot, to grind this out as you play through the various missions.
Soar for 20 minutes in a glider
Soar for 20 minutes in a glider
Fly in a glider. Maybe easiest somewhere with no coastline (no wind) like the Australian outback. Start a free flight and just let it glide.
Note the 20 minutes doesnt have to be in one flight - its cumulative.
Quit once the achievement pops, or carry on flying to accumulate time towards Eclectic Eagle
Take three 3 star photos in World Photographer, in three separate collections
Take three 3 star photos in World Photographer, in three separate collections
The game explains what is required in a photo to get three stars, and you can make multiple attempts in the same flight to get it right. Just do this three times, doesn't matter where.
Complete 3 missions in each of the World Photographer, Career, and Challenge League modes
Complete 3 missions in each of the World Photographer, Career, and Challenge League modes
This doesn't actually need 3 completed in each - various reports of unlocking with less than that; e.g. only 2 Challenge League, only one World Photographer.
Either way, you'll be progressing all three types anyway for various other achievements, so this will pop soon enough without any special effort directed towards it.
Successfully complete 30 seaplane landings without incident
Successfully complete 30 seaplane landings without incident
Yup, you just need to grind this one out.
Complete 100 weekly Challenges in the Challenge League
Complete 100 weekly Challenges in the Challenge League
You'll get Challenger on the way to this. It's quite a grind, but each challenge doesn't normally take too long.
Note you can repeatedly do the same challenge for continued progress (i.e. it still counts even if you've already done the challenge before).
But its still a big grind - we recommend doing a few each time you play, intermingled with other flights you're doing so you can build it up without having to spend too long repeatedly doing the same thing.
Visit 7 landmarks by hot-air balloon. Stay within 1 km for 3 minutes at each landmark you visit
Visit 7 landmarks by hot-air balloon. Stay within 1 km for 3 minutes at each landmark you visit
This can be done in Free Flight in one or two flights by picking locations that are dense with landmarks; e.g. Paris, London or New York. Set a landmark as your departure position to start in the air and pretty close to the first one.
It helps to have the Xbox achievement tracker (or Game Bar; Win+G on PC) open so you can see more quickly when the progress ticks up and when its time to move on to the next landmark.
Complete 50 successful landings at any heliport with no incidents
Complete 50 successful landings at any heliport with no incidents
If you pick the helicopter side of the career most of this will come naturally as you complete helicopter missions to progress.
Complete a Collection Page in World Photographer
Complete a Collection Page in World Photographer
See Multifaceted Photography which requires four specific collection pages - so maybe get this as one of those four :)
Accumulate 2 hours of flight each in a jet, airliner, glider, and rotorcraft
Accumulate 2 hours of flight each in a jet, airliner, glider, and rotorcraft
This is a fairly simple grind; just stay in the air for that long. You'll get most/all of this progress naturally through playing the game and working toward the other achievements - e.g. Wind Whisperer gets you a chunk of the way there for gliders.
Complete a Collection Page for Aviation, Man-Made, Nature, and Fauna in World Photographer
Complete a Collection Page for Aviation, Man-Made, Nature, and Fauna in World Photographer
You should get Scrapbooking as you complete the first of these. And unlocking this one gets you a chunk of the way towards Expanded Portfolio
Collect 100 Stars in World Photographer
Collect 100 Stars in World Photographer
Grind this out whilst also going for Scrapbooking and Multifaceted Photography
Complete 10 Collection Pages in World Photographer
Complete 10 Collection Pages in World Photographer
See Multifaceted Photography for the first four pages to pick. Then just grind out the rest.
Earn all 20 base certifications in the Career
Earn all 20 base certifications in the Career
Once you start the career you'll see the circular tree of all the certifications/qualifications you can unlock - fixed-wing on the left and helicopters on the right.
This is currently unobtainable because the last two certifications are not available yet - expect them to be added in a future game update.
You'll need a lot of cash (~675,000 credits) to get through this - operating a cargo company and running long-haul cargo missions is likely the quickest way to build up the cash.