Microsoft Flight Simulator (colloquially known as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020) is an amateur flight simulator developed by Asobo Studio and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is an entry in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series which began in 1982, and was preceded by Microsoft Flight Simulator X in 2006. The game is a return of the series after a 14-year absence, with development beginning six years prior to its release. It was released on August 18, 2020, for Microsoft Windows, with a virtual reality (VR) version released in December of the same year—the first in the series to have a VR release. It is the first game in the series to have a console release, which is expected for the Xbox Series X and Series S in mid-2021 and for the Xbox One at an unspecified date.
Flight Simulator simulates the topography of the entire Earth using data from Bing Maps. Microsoft Azure's artificial intelligence (AI) generates the three-dimensional representations of Earth's features, using its cloud computing (cloud) to render and enhance visuals, and real-world data to generate real-time weather and effects. Flight Simulator has a physics engine to provide realistic flight control surfaces, with over 1,000 simulated surfaces, as well as realistic wind modelled over hills and mountains. Some places are handcrafted, introduced in region-specific updates. To augment its realism, the Azure AI also incorporates real-time elements like natural weather and real-world air traffic. The gameplay includes new features like landing challenges and helper features, as well as safaris where pilots can photograph animals from the air. A distinct difference from the series' other entries is the game does not display any scenes of destruction.
The game was released to critical acclaim, with praise for its graphical fidelity, cited by critics as the "safest way to travel" during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several reviewers also placed it on their favourites' lists and called it the most aesthetically pleasing game of 2020; however, there was criticism of its loading times and inaccuracies in rendering of some buildings, landmarks and objects. Pilots also noted the game's unrealistic aerodynamics. It won Best Sim/Strategy Game at The Game Awards 2020.
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or better
- RAM: 8 GB
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- VIDEO CARD: Radeon RX 570 or GeForce GTX 770 or better
- PIXEL SHADER: 5.0
- VERTEX SHADER: 5.0
- FREE DISK SPACE: 150 GB
- DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 2048 MB
CPU: Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or better
- RAM: 16 GB
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- VIDEO CARD: Radeon RX 590 or GeForce GTX 970
- PIXEL SHADER: 5.1
- VERTEX SHADER: 5.1
- FREE DISK SPACE: 150 GB
- DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 4096 MB
Gameplay:
As an amateur flight simulator, Microsoft Flight Simulator has a tutorial segment divided into sequences that allow players new to flight, or to the simulation, to learn the basic controls, the flight instruments, and other topics deemed essential for them to know before flying; it ends with a takeoff and landing test. Throughout the tutorial, fictional pilot Captain Jess Molina assists players. It offers landing challenges at some of the most famous and dangerous airports and the player is graded based on how centred they are on the runway, how close they are to the runway's touchdown zone when they land, and the plane's feet per minute speed at touchdown. Another gameplay mode features three sight-seeing bush trips set in Nevada, Patagonia and the Balkans.
Flight Simulator has an artificial intelligence (AI) air traffic controller (ATC) and a virtual co-pilot who can assist players when they are unable to do things like requesting landing clearance or going through checklists. It has several helper features: "Assistance" enables waypoint arrows at the taxiways, showing players where to go; "Route & Waypoints" enables markers to guide players in the sky; "Landing Path" guides players on landing; "Travel To" allows the pilot to jump to certain points of the flight (climb, cruise, descent, approach, finals - similar to time-lapse), condensing long-haul flights; an "Active Pause" pauses the flight, allowing players to explore the surrounding area or take a break.These features are not available during challenges.
Flight Simulator allows players to search for fauna in the game, either by filtering for it on the world map or selecting "Fauna Markers" when in mid-air.The "Autorudder" feature keeps the plane on the centre line of taxiways and runways when the player cannot control it. Another feature allows the player to enter a geographic coordinate to find a location. The gameplay screen features a toolbar of buttons which allow the player to open the various windows for air traffic control, the camera views, modify checklists, view the navigation log, see objectives, view the visual flight rules (VFR) map, etc. The gaming interface also has the VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) compass, and the altimeter, throttle, engine, fuel, flaps, and trim tabs controls. Additional features like the head-up display (HUD) are accessible from the settings.
Unlike its antecedents, Flight Simulator features no animations or depictions of damage or collision when an aircraft crashes. Instead, it cuts to black and provides a one-line message explaining why the plane crashed. Damaging the plane without crashing can degrade the aircraft's flight characteristics and so cause the aircraft structure to fail, which will place a message saying the aircraft exceeded limits but not exactly which limits were exceeded.
Due to its complex amount of topographical, scenery and
object data, Flight Simulator requires a certain speed of internet connection
for seamless gameplay. Windows Central states that the minimum megabit per
second (Mbps) required is 5, with the recommended speed being 20, and the ideal
speed being 50. Flight Simulator has an offline mode, which uses the latest
pre-cached data on one's hard drive. Two caches exist, a rolling cache
(controlled automatically by the simulator) and a manual cache (which can be
set by the user). The rolling cache is written to when the user goes to flight
mode, caching the local objects and scenery, and updates as the pilot flies
around the virtual world. The user sets the manual cache locations and amount
of detail to be stored, and the user can determine the storage sizes used in
both methods - as well as turn them off if required.
https://www.flightsimulator.com/
Something else..
Flight Simulator includes around 37,000 manually edited
airports from around the world based on real-world satellite images. The
Standard, Deluxe, and Premium Deluxe edition include, respectively, 30, 35, or
40 hand-crafted airports that replicate their real-world counterparts. Airports
in the Deluxe edition include those in the United States, Europe, and Africa,
while those exclusively for the Premium Deluxe version include Heathrow and
Dubai Airports, in addition to those from the US and Europe.
The addition of third-party aircraft and airports are also supported within the simulator, as are additions of other services. Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network (VATSIM) and the International Virtual Aviation Organisation (IVAO) are examples of online flight-simulation networks supported within Flight Simulator since releasethat allow pilots to talk to human air traffic controllers (instead of the AI ones) and to each other where there is no ATC coverage. These services add to the realism of flight simulators, and VATSIM was even used in 2008 to test proposed real-world changes to ATC before implementation.Many of the third-party add-ons are repaints or exclusive liveries. In addition, there are other add-ons (mods) for things such as recording flights, and a weather mod designed by Weather Preset Pro. The Microsoft team has said that they "welcome [all third party developers] onboard," and that they are "critically important".To simplify things, Asobo Studio has created an in-game marketplace on flightsimulator.com featuring a variety of third-party content. This also includes the stock world updates released by Asobo Studios, and some third-party mods such as A32NX by FlyByWire for the Airbus A320neo control systems
