Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 video game)

A Lufthansa A320neo is cleared for takeoff at Budapest's runway 31L. The "Assistance" waypoints, in blue, are seen guiding the player, and the new subtitles feature is seen below. Above, an arrow can be seen; this signifies the center, which is vital to implement a perfect take-off and landing. The cockpit ambiance dominates this screenshot.

As an amateur flight simulator, Microsoft Flight Simulator has a tutorial segment divided into sequences that allow players new to flight simulation to learn basic controls, flight instruments, and other basics deemed essential to know before flying, which ends with a takeoff and landing test.[4] Throughout, players are assisted by fictional pilot Captain Jess Molina[5][lower-alpha 2] It also offers landing challenges to some of the most famous and dangerous airports. The player is graded based on how centered they are on the runway, how close they are to the touchdown zone of the runway when they touchdown, and the feet-per-minute at touchdown.[4] Another gameplay mode features three sight-seeing bush trips set in Nevada, Patagonia, and the Balkans.[7]

Flight Simulator has an artificial intelligence (AI) air traffic controller, and a virtual co-pilot which can assist players when they are unable to do things like requesting landing clearance or doing checklists. It also has several helper features: "Assistance" enables waypoint arrows at the taxiways, guiding players on where to go; "Route & Waypoints" enables markers to guide players in the sky; "Landing Path" guides players on landing; "Travel To" time-lapses the flight, condensing long-haul flights; and "Active Pause" pauses the flight, allowing players to explore the surrounding area.[8] These features are not available during challenges.[4] Flight Simulator also allows players to search for faunas in the game, either by searching the word on the World Map, or selecting "Fauna Markers" when in mid-air.[8] An "Autorudder" feature keeps the plane in the centerline of taxiways and runways when the player is unable to control it. In addition, there is a feature of entering a geographic coordinate to find a location.[7] The gameplay screen features a toolbar of buttons, where players can talk with the air traffic controller, switch camera views, modify checklists, view the navigation log, see objectives, view the visual flight rules (VFR) map, etc. At the screen, there is the VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) compass, as well as the altimeter, throttle, engine, fuel, flaps, and trim tabs. Additional features like the head-up display (HUD) are accessible from the settings.[7]

Unlike its antecedents, Flight Simulator features no animations or depictions of mayhem when an aircraft crashes. Instead, it cuts to black and gives a one-line message as to why the plane crashed. Although damaging the plane without crashing it can degrade the aircraft's quality in ensuing activities, the damage cannot be seen.[9]

Microsoft Flight Simulator leverages Microsoft Azure data, and simulates the Earth using textures and data from Bing Maps. In this gameplay screenshot, a Cirrus SR22 is flying along Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour.

Microsoft Flight Simulator uses its own in-house engine while leveraging Microsoft Azure to provide over two petabytes of world map data taken from the cloud on demand.[17] Microsoft partnered up with Blackshark.ai[18] who developed a solution that uses the Microsoft Azure cloud and AI that analyzes map data and photogrammetry to generate photorealistic 3D models of buildings, trees, terrain, and so on. This allows the simulator to depict most parts of the world in 3D photorealism, and other parts in high definition.[19] The game's engine utilizes satellite imagery or fly-by image scans as the basis for height and terrain texture data. An offline procedural generation AI then reads these textures and properly populates terrain with materials, roads, buildings, bushes, trees and more based on brush set assets the developers have made. Afterwards, graphic artists can further go in and embellish specific locations with even more detail with photogrammetrically captured materials and textures. Flight Simulator features multiple terabytes of texture and height map data. Using a base mesh and textures, the game uses the Internet connection to stream even higher quality terrain data onto the PC or console through the Azure cloud as the player plays, boosting the game's fidelity and graphical diversity.[20] In rare cases where certain areas are blurred or pixelated on Bing Maps, where the map is derived from, it "uses procedural techniques to fill in the blanks and make sure there is something in the space."[21]

Developer Asobo Studio scanned interiors and exteriors of aircraft with a 3D scanner in order to create realistic looks of them, polished with modeling and printing.[22] There are also realistic physics and weather systems, and utilization of real-world weather data. An example used was that if it was raining somewhere in real life, it would be raining in-game. Individual clouds will have their own behaviors and they will impact aircraft performance depending on its location within the system.[23] Flight Simulator features a 600-kilometre (370 mi) draw distance and allows the player to see storms hundreds of miles away, with lightning cracking inside of clouds.[24] Flight Simulator is also the first flight simulator to enable worldwide VFR, a feature also never seen in contemporary flight simulators used by airlines to train and test pilots.[25]

Through cloud-based technology, Flight Simulator sends data to the computer or console in real time, with AI being utilized to extrapolate geometry from a blend of satellite and flyover imagery.[26] Other sources of data include terrain data for landscaping, data for foliage density, real-time meteorological data,[25] and air traffic updates.[27] A separate atmospheric renderer simulates accurate humidity and pollution.[28] Skyscrapers cast shadows over each other that darken as the player reaches street level and cities will disperse light at night that radiates the sky.[29] Cloud technology is also used to calculate things such as the way air flows around natural structures such as mountains to cause pockets of turbulence, or stream in air traffic, time of day and weather from the real world.[30]

Volumetric lighting is utilized for various effects, including illuminating water droplets, some of which will occupy the entirety of the cockpit window, and with everything being simulated in real time.[31] Light sources such as the Sun, Moon, or city lights scatter through the environment appropriately, pollution levels and humidity affect refraction and overall visibility, and the atmosphere is layered the same as it is in the real world. Clouds are volumetrically modelled, with 32 layers determining shape, density, and “fuzziness."[32] Flight Simulator's reflection system also at times utilizes ray marching by retranslating voxels. Otherwise, the reflection system uses a mix of screen-space reflections and cube maps to show reflections on more distant bodies of water.[33] In addition to a complex lighting system, Flight Simulator makes use of highly detailed shaders.[34] The game also makes extensive use of screen-space reflections (optional feature by players)[35] and bokeh depth of field.[36]

Flight Simulator populates the world with animals and roads with vehicles, grasses have individual blades, and flows water realistically based on wind direction, creating the illusion of a living world.[37] The game world includes over 2 million cities and towns,[38] 1.5 billion buildings, 2 trillion trees, and 37,000 real-world airports.[39] This approach also allows Microsoft to flag artifacts and visual anomalies from a birds-eye view, clearing up the input for a world-building algorithm. The result is fed into Microsoft's artificial intelligence, stringing the environment together in the cloud, and is streamed to the computer (PC) or console in real time.[40] Flight Simulator features various animal species that can even be viewed at ground level, including birds, elephants, giraffes and bears.[41] It also allows the player to scout, "chase" and interact with real-world storms as they occur in real time.[42]

Microsoft Flight Simulator was developed by the French Asobo Studio and published by Xbox Game Studios.[44] The game was announced at E3 2019 on June 9, 2019.[45] It is the first major entry in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series since 2006's Flight Simulator X (FSX), following a long period of uncertainty over the future of the series after the closure of Aces Game Studio in 2009.[44]

The franchise's return after a 14-year absence is partially credited to the business model of Xbox Game Pass allowing for a wider variety and diversity of games.[46] Xbox chief Phil Spencer had also stated that Flight Simulator is part of Microsoft's renewed commitment to PC gaming. According to Spencer, their head of global partnerships Sarah Bond worked on the Game Pass "with the indie montage" and all the games set to launch on Game Pass, then announced it for PC, as well as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. "I didn't know if the PC community was going to be watching or not, but we went Flight Sim, we went Age, we went Wasteland—I wanted people to know that we want to make sure we're building games and supporting games that respect what the PC community loves", he elaborated. On bringing back Flight Simulator, he stated: "We do have some pilots on the teams that are big fans of flight, and flight sims, and flying themselves, who are passionate about it, so we said, 'okay, let's see what we can do'." Reflecting on the legacy of the series to the aviation community, Spencer thought, "Can we do something new with Flight Sim? Can we actually move it forward in an interesting way?"[47]

Neumann also credited flight instructors in desperate amid the pilot crisis—an era wherein the number of pilots are decreasing—as inspiration for the game, stating that the franchise is important on the future of aviation.[48] Via CNN, he stated: "When you meet pilots a lot of them that say 'you know what? -- my interest in this whole thing started with Microsoft Flight Sim many years ago'. Some people choose that as a career, and we do hope to inspire this new generation. Ever since we showed our trailer we've been called by almost every airplane manufacturer and they all tell us there's a pilot crisis, but for us it's about priority-setting. We're excited about making a sim, and if we can help with the pilot crisis in some shape or form -- we'll try when the time is right."[49]

Six years before release, the foundations for Flight Simulator began through work with Asobo on a product called HoloTour for Microsoft's HoloLens mixed reality headset. A challenge that later inspired the Flight Simulator project was to build a digital version of Machu Picchu's vast mountainside and vistas versus normal buildings at street level. This challenge spurred Microsoft executive and project leader Jörg Neumann to consult with the Bing Maps team to use their detailed photogrammetry data, which included the actual ruins of Machu Picchu, to create a HoloLens replica of it. Neumann later utilized Bing Maps photogrammetry data to have Asobo build a flight demo for the city of Seattle.[43] The technology was also incorporated from Microsoft's discontinued Photosynth project, which generates 3D models from 2D photos.[50] Regarding the aircraft 3D scanning technology, Asobo recalled that, although scanning saves more time and simplifies the work, scanning an aircraft can take a full day, depending on the size. The cockpit barely takes an hour.[22] Neumann also met with Meteoblue, a Swiss company, to incorporate realistic, real-time, and worldwide weather data into the product.[51] To port realistic weather, the Earth is divided into 250 million boxes, whereupon meteorological and climatological data are embedded in it. Further layers of data are placed higher up the skies until the stratosphere. Using data of the forces on weathers of each places, Meteoblue's system created a set of mathematical equations incorporated to the game, which will forecast forthcoming weather conditions.[52]

A team of audio directors, designers, and recordists were in charge of the audio incorporated to Flight Simulator. The team worked with a pilot, who provided the aircraft. The team had a tight schedule of only 2 and a half hours per day, and they managed to record three planes per day. 30 aircraft types and five turbofans were used, with Sennheiser and Audix microphones used to record the audio. A Shure VP88 was also used to record propeller sounds. To record cockpit sounds, a small portable rig was used to be able to record in quadraphonic and ambisonic at the same time. Biome systems were used to create soundscapes for different environments and time on Earth. All of these recordings were recorded using Audiokinetic Wwise.[53]

Sometime after its unveiling in E3 2019, Microsoft organized a temporary Insider Program, where members could get access to the alpha and beta version of the game, and can provide feedback, suggestions, and criticisms to the developers right away.[54] Those willing to volunteer in the program underwent a selection session; if they are selected, they had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), agreeing that they would not share their gameplay or thoughts on the game in its under-maintenance version. One volunteer broke this rule and shared footages to YouTube; they were later copyright-stricken by Microsoft. The person lost the testing privileges.[55] In November 2019, FSX has a beta "branch" which gained telemetry data that would help the development of Flight Simulator. It was available for free for all FSX and FSX Steam Version players.[56]

On July 13, 2020, Microsoft opened up preorders, and on August 18, 2020, Flight Simulator became available for PC.[63] The company, who said that the game is the largest release throughout its history,[64] announced three different versions of the title — Standard, Deluxe, and Premium Deluxe, each providing an incremental set of airplanes to choose and additional airports with more detailed visuals.[65] While still having no specific dates, Xbox announced it will be released for Series X and Series S in mid 2021.[66] A Microsoft spokesperson stated that plans of release on Xbox One will be talked about c. 2021.[67] In addition to digital licenses from Microsoft Store and Steam, the game is also available on the PC version of the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.[10]

The game is available for purchase worldwide, except for China, although some Chinese aspiring players are finding ways to fake regions via Steam. Microsoft did not respond regarding the unavailability in the country. It is presumed that due to the high quality of the game, the Chinese government fear people flying through governmental areas.[68]

Retail version

Aerosoft's physical release of the Standard edition came on ten DVDs

Aerosoft, a German developer and publisher of simulation software, announced in July 2020 that they have a partnership with Microsoft to release a physical version in Europe. Released corresponding the PC release, the physical version is more friendly for those with slower Internet connection. It is available in two editions, Standard and Premium Deluxe, and comes with 10 dual-layer DVDs, a printed manual, and a keyboard reference chart.[69] The DVDs contain the actual game, the world and aircraft, an optional online content, and optional third-party files, each able to store a maximum of 8.7 gigabytes (GB).[70]

The discs contain around 90 GB of data that consists of the installer and basic content, including aircraft and the standard-definition default world. However, the actual simulator software and patches are downloaded during installation; therefore, the game is not playable out of the box. An active internet connection is also needed for the simulator to update itself when needed. As with digital versions, after installation the game does not require an active internet connection and can be played offline; additionally, more details for the world, better ground imagery, as well as real-world weather and air traffic data can optionally be streamed from Microsoft's servers.[70]

• Official website
• Microsoft Flight Simulator at MobyGames