Microsoft Flight Simulator won't start on Steam Deck in SteamOS

[PianoMan2112]

Although it shows as Steam Deck unsupported due to controller mapping, Microsoft Flight Simulator crash fix is included in the Proton 7.0-2 release notes, so it is supported. With the current version of Proton 7.0-3, it has regressed to crashing. The initial white screen shows and a keyboard pops up, but instead of the white screen drawing XBOX GAME STUDIOS and being prompted for an Xbox Live account, the app hangs for a minute and then crashes. I have much more than 2 hours in it, because I installed Windows temporarily on the Steam Deck to make sure it would run (it did but eventually crashed), and it took many hours just to download the 100 GB of in-game downloads. I created a ticket since the software is $100 even on sale, but I was told to create a bug report here instead.

[GoGetter]

This should help you:
1. Go to Flight Sim Properties -> Launch Options, and enter, %command% -FastLaunch
2. Rerun the game.

You can find people commenting on such issues, and discussing possible solutions here:
https://www.protondb.com/app/1250410

[PianoMan2112]

Just got my RMA Deck back and tried "%command% -FastLaunch" ; it worked! Thank you!

There is another issue: When logging in to Xbox Live, you can't see or type numbers, meaning if your user ID has digits, you can't log in (I used an email alias that didn't have digits as a workaround, Xbox Live still showed my main email address after logging in), but I have Microsoft Authenticator, and couldn't see which of the 3 2-digit numbers to select. (I guessed and clicked the first one; I got lucky and it worked). I had email or text me a code as an option, but that doesn't help because you can't type in the verification code. (I didn't have password as an option, but I don't know if a password can be created that has no digits.)

Edit: A new entry in https://www.protondb.com/app/1250410 confirms digits don't show, but says they are accepted, so if your username has digits in it, it might work even if it looks like your email address is incomplete or that you're not typing in a verification code.

(When I tried yesterday with the RMA Deck, I Googled "flight simulator steam deck', saw this, read the issue, and thought "Wow, that sounds exactly ike my problem". thenI scrolled up high enough to the OP's username.)

[GoGetter]

No problem. Yeah, I had the same issue (disappearing numbers on login page). That's why I chose a different email ID (the one not registered to Authenticator) so that I could use password instead of a number which worked just fine.

Also, a small tip to improve your game performance - go easy on Render Resolution, or set it to 80 or 70. This, along with Medium preset, gives a solid 40 fps most of the time with an occasional dip to 35 fps or so. You can also set Texture Resolution to Ultra! Overall, the game still looks gorgeous without sacrificing much of the performance or quality.

[PianoMan2112]

I had to reinstall MSFS and it wouldn't start; I did some searches and found this page. I read it and thought "Wow, this is similar to my problem", then saw it's my own post. SO, here's another change I had to do to get it to stop crashing on startup: In Compatibility, check Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool (I let it default to Proton Experimental).

[GregFYeah]

Hi guys I am new to the steam deck and was wondering if I purchase the flight sim , will I be able to play it out the box on the deck or do I have to install Microsoft etc ?

[PianoMan2112]

If you buy it from Steam, you just might need to change it to use %command% -FastLaunch and to use Proton Experimental; you only have to deal with Windows if you use the Windows/Xbox version. When you first buy and download it from Steam, it will download about 15 GB, but then after starting the app, you'll need a Microsoft login, then it will download about 100 GB of data; you can change that download to a folder on an SD card if needed.

[Ray]

thank you so much for all this information .The whole reason i bought the steam deck OLED was to play MSFS an was devastated when I found out it wouldnt work and was even questining returning my only bd gift (the steam deck OLED) but after seeying this it really cheared me up and reasured me i could play MSFS on steamOS (i know im posting this A WHOLE 2 YEARS LATER but we have new compatabilatey tools making MSFS a smoother excperiance) so in short THANK YOU SO MUCH i wish you a smooth steam deck expieriance