Early on in Terry Pratchett's novel The Light Fantastic, a spell is cast to map the world. It begins as a "fireball of occult potentiality," dangling in the Great Hall of the Unseen University, which evolves into a ghostly "embryo universe." The embryo expands "lightly as a thought," with spectral continents "sleeting" through walls and people. It surges across the landscape until the entire population and geography of the Disc is exactly duplicated and enclosed by a shimmering shadow-self of "shining threads that followed every movement."
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator's free Dune expansion is available now. It features the Royal Atreides Ornithopter from Denis Villeneuve's movies - with this entire DLC being a marketing tie-in with Dune: Part Two, which releases next month. It includes tutorials, time trials, and a "daring rescue mission".
]]>I haven't checked in on Microsoft Flight Simulator for a while, but the aviation 'em up hasn't missed a beat. Last month it received World Update 15, continuing increase the detail of its global landscape with a visit to Greenland and the Nordics. Now Asobo have released City Update 5: European Cities 1, which brings a similar pass of polish to five "exemplary urban regions".
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator was already impressive at launch, using satellite data and some streaming tech to recreate the entire globe. Since launch, the team have been diving in to touch up certain areas giving Australia, Japan, Canada, and more big makeovers. Now, MS Flight Sim has its sights on the magical realm of Middle-Earth, also known as New Zealand. World Update 12, out today, is sprucing up New Zealand’s vistas, adding in nine handcrafted airports, and introducing a bunch of missions.
]]>Eagle-eyed Microsoft Flight Simulator players have uncovered a secret that lets you play the first four games in the long-running series inside the cockpit of one the game’s planes. The Easter egg was introduced along with the game’s 40th Anniversary update, which went live on Friday. Activating the secret games will let you play them in your aircraft’s cockpit, using the keys on the screen to control the plane-within-a-plane.
]]>Nvidia DLSS 3 is arguably the single most interesting thing to emerge from the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 GPU launches. Even with, I’ll concede, some limits: whereas previous DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) versions have been available to any GeForce RTX graphics card, DLSS 3 is currently only usable on these RTX 40 series models. Or will be, once the RTX 4080 goes on sale on November 16th. Yet having tested it out on the RTX 4090, I’m convinced it could be as big a deal as the cards themselves, especially if you have a high-refresh-rate gaming monitor.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator is enhancing its version of the planet’s second largest country for World Update 11. Canada is benefitting from the Flight Sim devs fancy scanning tech for the free update, which is live in game now. Glide over coasts, cities, and mountains while watching the trailer below.
]]>Make-believe plane pretender Microsoft Flight Simulator’s first City Update has added realistic versions of five German conurbations just in time to mark Gamescom 2022. You can now fly over Hanover, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Bonn and Cologne. They’re rendered with the fancy photogrammetry technique that’s already plonked hundred of cities into Flight Simulator’s rendition of Earth.
That means that you can zoom over Koelnmesse, which is where Gamescom’s happening right bloomin’ now. Nice bit of Inception-style weirdness there, Microsoft Flight Simulator devs. I’ll give it a go later and see if I can spot our roving reporter Ed. Witness the realism for yourself by watching the trailer below, like some kind of human aircraft gliding above.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator has been revising its world one country at a time, adding new monuments and landmarks and new photogrammetry to its cities. The latest update, released today, returns to the United States for World Update 10, and includes improved scenery for Seattle, San Francisco, New York and more, as well as landmarks from Disneyland to Blackbeard's Castle.
]]>The Flight Simulator series turns 40 this year, which is somehow a distressing thought making me realise how fast time is passing, so Microsoft are preparing to celebrate. Come the 40th anniversary in November, they plan to release a big Microsoft Flight Simulator update with helicopters, gliders, iconic historical aircraft including the Wright Flyer, and more. But that's the future. Right now, the game has received a taste of far future with the release of Halo Infinite's Pelican aircraft as a real plane you can really fly in Flight Sim.
]]>Not content with hosting the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest last weekend, Italy has now received a glam up in Microsoft Flight Simulator’s ninth world update. Cities in Italy and Malta are seeing their detail improved by photogrammetry, with the obvious choices of Rome, Milan and Venice joined by places such as Turin, Perugia and Paestum. Florence is a notable absence, but then Florence airport was recently released as paid DLC.
]]>Two more aircraft have dived into Microsoft Flight Simulator’s roster in its second Famous Flyers pack of paid DLC, the 1930s Gee Bee Super Sportster air-racers. The stubby-winged, compact Model Z and Model R-2 arrive as the game sees its ninth update, with plenty of bug fixes, a new Spotlight Event landing challenge and an authentic vapour cone for when you go supersonic in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Developers Asobo Studio have also patched in their own office in Bordeaux if you want to fly past and wave hello.
]]>World Update 7 has landed in Microsoft Flight Simulator, continuing efforts to fancy up the globe with more-detailed terrain and handcrafted models for landmarks. This time Australia gets the polish, with scanned photogrammetry replacements for 11 cities, handcrafted models for 94 landmarks and points of interest, and new local missions. It looks pretty! Check out the trailer below.
]]>Even with a bunch of post-launch performance improvements, Microsoft Flight Simulator is still the kind of game that can make most PCs sweat. Good news, then, for frequent flyers who happen to own an Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card: Flight Sim is getting DLSS support this year.
Specifically, DLSS will be available when running the sim in DirectX 12, as part of a handful of upcoming DX12 enhancements that also include optimisations for playing on multiple monitors. Developers Asobo Studio confirmed the DLSS addition in a recent devstream, which you can watch in full below, though the feature is still being tested so there’s no specific date beyond 2022.
]]>I wouldn’t call it a new year’s resolution – mine for 2022 are learning piano and using fewer dashes – but generally I want to try new things with my PC. And one such opportunity recently presented itself via the new Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flight yoke controller: I was going to learn how to fly.
In Microsoft Flight Simulator, obviously, but this honking great console of handles, buttons, joysticks and levers definitely looked like the right tool for the job. A simple flight stick this is not: there’s a full 180-degree yoke handle, an integrated display that can data like flight times, and a modular (but included as standard) throttle quadrant. The kind of thing you might own if your PC resembles a bisected turbine.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator's Game Of The Year edition is out now, bringing with it Update VII and the latest collection of new airports, planes, and prettier cities. It also adds some new features, including an improved weather system, new tutorials and new missions.
Reno Air Races, the game's first expansion pack, is also out today.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator is getting a 'Game Of The Year' edition. The skybound sim has received regular free updates since launch, each adding new cities and points of interest. The GOTY edition will bring even more, including new potogrammetry cities, 8 new airpirts, and 5 new aircraft. It'll launch on November 18th and be free to all existing players.
]]>Has any game done more for the representation of bridges than Microsoft Flight Simulator? Every new world update brings with it new, realistically rendered points of interest, and this time it's the turn of the viaducts and suspension bridges of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. World Update 6 is live now, and you can find the trailer below.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator's Top Gun expansion has been delayed until next year. The free update is due to add fighter jets to coincide with the release of new movie Top Gun: Maverick, but the movie was delayed earlier this week until May 27th, 2022.
]]>Gamescom 2021 is underway, and this evening brought the Xbox showcase stream. You can watch the stream archive in full, but if all you care about is new trailers, then we've gathered them together here.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator was released a little over a year ago, has been updated substantially since, and developers Asobo are planning at least another year of significant additions. The next to come, World Update 6, will focus on Germany, Austria and Switzerland, although Asobo said this week that it has been delayed by two weeks until September 7th.
]]>Though I’d prefer they added an airship, or at least a sofa with birthday balloons attached, I’m still very excited about Microsoft Flight Simulator’s new patch. The update brings some significant performance improvements that should bring higher frame rates, smooth out stuttering, and reduce strain on your whole system. Along with some exploration improvements and world map upgrades, it’s a very helpful patch.
]]>There are significant performance upgrades in the pipeline for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The good news was stealthily announced on a livestream by developer Asobo's CEO Sebastian Wloch. He showed off the engine tweaks that take the turbulence out of the simulator’s flight path. Smoother performance, better frame rates and fewer resources will all be implemented by the end of July.
]]>Another 'World Update' has landed in Microsoft Flight Simulator, this time focused on improving the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Along with updating the landscape with more detail, the update brings detailed models for landmarks ranging from bridges and wind farms to stadiums and... Lego House? Is this a real thing? This is a real thing! Check out that blocky building and more in the trailer below.
]]>The larger part of the Microsoft Flight Simulator announcement at tonight's Microsoft E3 showcase was that it's coming to Xbox Series X|S. There was a brief glimpse of something for us at the end of the trailer, though: there's a free expansoin coming later this year to tie-in with Top Gun: Maverick.
]]>It now takes less time to download a planet. That's because the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator update has optimised the game's initial download size, cutting it down to 83GB from over 170GB.
]]>Microsoft are giving away a custom PC inspired by Microsoft Flight Simulator this weekend over on their Xbox UK Twitter account, and they really aren't kidding on where they've taken their design inspirations from. Yep, that's an actual turbine engine they've used for the case here - and you thought your PC fans kicked up a fuss...
]]>Mod communities tend to follow predictable arcs, so it's often possible to predict what work users will create long before it exists. For that reason I thought to myself today: Microsoft Flight Simulator has been out for a while, I wonder if anyone has made a mod that lets you drive a car around its world yet.
Bingo.]]>If you like to play Microsoft Flight Simulator as a tourist, I’d suggest hooking your game up to Bushtalk Radio. It’s a community generated landmark database that tracks where you are in-game. Get close to a registered landmark and the site will automatically start telling you all about it, just like my mum does when we're in the car ('Ooh, a red Volvo.'). Think of it as an audio tour for the entire world, one that covers everything from magnificent waterfalls to the world’s largest beaver dam.
]]>The Oxford English dictionary describes a bug as: "a sort of computer oops". It is the result of errant coding, mismatched texture, wonky physics or (sometimes) a briefcase. Developers must fight bugs day and night to safeguard the digital realms we call our playgrounds. Sometimes they lose that battle and a bug comes stomping ravenously into our game, ready to upset us. But sometimes that bug is not an annoyance or a game-breaker, but instead the funniest thing to ever happen. Here are 9 of the best bugs in PC gaming.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator was no slouch at launch, but since release its developers have been been applying extra polish to its world map country-by-country. World update 4, out now, brings that extra detail to France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - including new photomagicry of two major cities and three new hand-crafted airports.
]]>As this sceptered isle emerges from beneath a blanket of dirty snow, so too it looks spruced-up and fresh in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Today has brought World Update 3, a free overhaul of the UK and Ireland with new handcrafted landmarks and photogrammetric do-overs of five cities. See some of the many castles and bridges in the trailer below.
]]>At last, I'll be able to fly over my local Aldi, and take in sumptuous, grey steelworks just down the road. And I'm getting excited because Microsoft Flight Simulator's third World Update arrives on 16th February, bringing many UK and Ireland landmarks, as well as five new photogrammetry cities to the game.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator's 3rd update was due to give the UK some spilt and polish this past week, but it was delayed into February. This hasn't stopped developers Asobo from talking about its fourth update, which we now know is planned for the end of March and which will focus on France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
There's a brief teaser trailer for the UK update below, which is filled with castles and hills and piers, just like the real Britain and Ireland.
]]>I've been driven over the Forth Road Bridge more times than I count, sat in the back of my dad's car as we went to visit family. I've peered down upon the Deep Sea World, and watched the railway bridge be painted and re-painted and painted again. It's unreasonably exciting to me, then, to see it in Microsoft Flight Simulator above. It's one of many UK and Ireland landmarks being added to the game, alongside five new photogrammetry cities including London, in World Update 3.
]]>A white Christmas would be a lovely way to end a bit of a rubbish year, alas, I live in southern England, so it's unlikley I'll even get a peek at some real-life snow. I can, however, look at some lovely virtual snow in Microsoft Flight Simulator today. Asobo's open air fly 'em up adds the white stuff in today's free update, along with a smattering of ice and VR support.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator features some absolutely stunning weather. But as far as the ground's concerned it's always the height of summer, with even the northernmost parts of Scandinavia left remarkably snow-free. That changes with next Tuesday's free update, which adds a sprinkling of snow, ice, and virtual reality goggles to the planet-sized flight 'em up.
]]>Players do the darndest things—especially when they're also game developers—and this sure is a thing that I feel silly for not seeing from miles off. Rami Ismail of former Vlambeer fame decided to really test out the accuracy of Microsoft Flight Simulator by piloting a flight in game while sitting on the same flight in real life. The future sure has arrived.
]]>See that blurry coastal mess up there? That's North Berwick, my one-time childhood home and the first stop in my jaunt across Microsoft Flight Simulator's painstakingly thorough recreation of planet Earth. It's been done dirty, I reckon, but that may be about to change. The next World Update for Asobo's jet-setter is heading to the UK, sprucing up ol' Britannia with improved landmarks, landscape resolution and plenty of sightseeing spots sometime next January.
]]>Yee-haw, pilots. Lasso the young'uns to their seats, because Microsoft Flight Simulator's next stop is the grand old US of A. The massive aviation sandbox just pushed its second world update, granting a number of states with improved resolutions, laying down some hand-crafted airports and 50 spruced-up points-of-interest to make your stateside tours an absolute treat.
]]>Ultrawide gaming monitors can seem excessive compared to regular 16:9 gaming screens, especially when their demanding resolutions often require powerful and expensive graphics cards to make the most of them. Once you try one, though, there's no going back. I've been a big fan of ultrawide gaming monitors for years now, as their extra screen space not only makes them great for juggling multiple desktop windows, but supported PC games also look uttery fantastic on them - and to prove it, I've put together this list of the best ultrawide games on PC.
]]>A is for Alphabetised wargame and sim news. Welcome to the cosy corner of RPS where the vehicular is valued, the historical is hallowed, and the paragraphs are shorter than 7.5 cm Kampfwagenkanone 37 L/24 barrels.
]]>For every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction. As such, it is only natural that Microsoft Flight Simulator's massive hole in the ground be countered by two spear-like pillars of earth on the other side of the globe. Despite last week's World Update re-jigging the nation's terrain, pilots this week discovered these colossal spikes bursting out of the Japanese countryside.
]]>Following this week's brief trip to Japan, Microsoft Flight Simulator is already booking its next intercontinental clean-up flight. It seems the gigantic flight sim has decided to take on the United States of America for its next World Update, bringing a similar mix of photogrammetry-improved cities and higher-resolution terrain in another World Update before the end of the year.
]]>The launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator has made me very aware that I don't have a flight throttle and stick, but I'm not committed enough to buy one. Turns out, you don't need to. Just fire up the 3D printer you definitely have, and you can print out a HOTAS that snaps onto an Xbox One controller and connects to its trigger and thumbstick. That's the wild new creation from Akaki Kuumeri, who has even shared the schematics so we can all spin filament into a HOTAS on our own 3D printers.
]]>Yup. That seems about right. After evicting the Queen and erecting a colossal monolith in Melbourne, the unknowable architect behind Microsoft Flight Simulator's world gen now appears to have pulled at the very fabric of the Earth, ripping a massive hole out of a field in South America. At least, I very much hope this is a simple computing error - has anyone actually been outside to check lately?
]]>Having already fit the world on my hard drive, Microsoft Flight Simulator now begins the long and painful process of making it all look a bit nicer. The flight sim's first World Update drops today, sprucing up Japan with photogrammetry-scanned cities, improved terrain mapping, custom-built airports and new landing challenges to break in the new runways. Tickets are free, so why not pop over to Tokyo for a spell?
]]>Microsoft announced during their Tokyo Games Show stream today that Japan will be the next country to get touched up by hand in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The first "world update" is coming next week with six Japanese cities rebuilt using 3D photogrammetry, along with six airports, a new elevation map for the country, and loads of bridges, temples, castles, and other landmarks. The update's due next Tuesday, and you can see a bit of Japan now in the trailer below.
]]>Twitch Plays is a strange beast. You'd think that allowing loads of viewers in Twitch chat control all the actions in a video game might be a disaster, and yet the hivemind never seems to disappoint. Twitch chat has tackled Pokémon, (kinda) beat Dark Souls, and they even managed to beat a chess grandmaster at his own game. But now they've taken to the skies in Microsoft Flight Simulator, managing to perform a barrel roll and even land a plane together.
]]>I've already gushed about the excellent wildlife there is to find in Microsoft Flight Simulator, but for as lovely as the giraffes and elephants are, the game was clearly missing something a little… bigger. Thanks to some skilled modders, you can add Godzilla to the list of creatures to catch a glimpse of on your safaris - just, uh, don't fly too close to this one, eh?
]]>It's only been a few weeks since Microsoft Flight Simulator cleared the runway and soared into my heart. The flight has been mostly smooth, but there has been some turbulence here and there, with a few major monuments missing and the autogen occasionally creating abstract art instead of hills. No matter, the overall excellence isn't impacted by that, and it has rallied the sim community to help fix those flaws. Flight Sim's SDK has enabled the players to swap out stadia and flatten fjords. And beyond replacing a few mishaps, they've been getting creative. Kaiju have started popping up in flight paths.
]]>Good news for anyone who's had trouble installing Microsoft Flight Simulator: a new patch has fixed a number of bugs which interfered with installation. Bad news if you are one of those people: to benefit from these fixes, it's recommended that you uninstall MSFS and reinstall from scratch. Oh no.
]]>A is for Alphabetised wargame and sim news. Welcome to the cosy corner of RPS where the vehicular is valued, the historical is hallowed, and the paragraphs are shorter than 7.5 cm Kampfwagenkanone 37 L/24 barrels.
]]>Poor Bing Maps. Microsoft Flight Simulator's usage of the mapping services data is so bloody awe-inspiring that any errors or gaps in the data stand out like giant, monolithic thumbs. It is missing some major landmarks, where the autogen tech has swapped out famous stadia and shiny palaces with bizarre, brutalist replacements. And the slightly humiliating solution the community has come up with is to use Google Maps to fill in the gaps.
]]>Right now, a lotta folks are getting their travel fix from Microsoft Flight Simulator. But for most of us, travel isn't about getting behind the controls of an elegant, gravity-defying machine - rather, we're squeezing what little comfort we can from a metal tube packed with noisy strangers and posture-wrecking chairs. Enter Airplane Mode, developer Hosni Auji's upcoming attempt to trap you in economy class for a full six hours.
]]>The sky is full of wonder, but as someone who lives in Scotland, I can also tell you its full of stupid clouds. I love the sky, and though I've seen a lot of it since moving back here, getting a cloud-free night is a huge challenge. But there's a solution! Microsoft Flight Simulator has more than just planes in the sky. Under the right weather conditions, and with the correct camera settings, you can see eclipses and the Milky Way, and you'll never have to worry about those fluffy jerks photobombing the Big Dipper.
]]>I miss a lot of things about travel, but being trapped in a tiny metal tube for hours on end isn't exactly one of them. Not so for Microsoft Flight Simulator streamer Bruce Greene and friends. Donning pilot uniforms and building an entire fake 747 cockpit, the trio set off on a 16-hour flight from Los Angeles to Dubai - though if my pilot was cracking open as much alcohol as these lads, I'd already be reaching for a parachute.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator’s claim that it has the whole world all wrapped up in its terabytes was always going to provoke interesting challenges, and it passed one Reddit user's test with flying colours. He took his plane to Napa Valley where the default Windows XP wallpaper, known as "Bliss", was taken. His flight plan panned out perfectly.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator has some pretty bonkers geometry. Chief amongst misplaced planes and anti-monarchist architecture, however, has to be the Melbourne citadel - a 200-storey piece of Combine architecture transplanted into the Australian city. It's proper weird, sure. But with a bit of digging, pilots have discovered that a simple typo may be the root of Flight Sim's mysterious down-under obelisk.
]]>With its beautifully rendered planes, lovingly hand-crafted airports and dozens upon dozens of photo-realistic cities that have been tweaked and fine-tuned right down to the very last pixel, Asobo Studio's Microsoft Flight Simulator is one of the most technically advanced games of our generation. Sure, its Bing Maps data can sometimes go a bit wonky and result in some rather amusing interpretations of local landmarks, but at its best, it's a real sight to behold - especially when it's spread across an ultrawide gaming monitor in all its 21:9 glory. Here's a quick tour of what it looks like and how it works - and yes, there are GIFs aplenty.
]]>Valve have addressed concerns about Microsoft Flight Simulator returns on Steam, after players found that simply downloading the game was racking up their playtime on the platform.
After a small 500MB download for Flight Sim's launcher, you then have to download a whopping great 90GB in-game before you can actually play it. Steam only lets you refund games you've played for less than two hours and, with some downloads taking much longer than that, the worry was that some players wouldn't be able to refund a game they hadn't even played.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 features tens of thousands of airports and runways from which to take off and land all over the Earth. But as with the game's towns and cities, not all airports are created equal, with some having been hand-crafted to be as close to real life as possible. Read on to find out which are the most realistic airports in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 gives you a very healthy number of planes with which to soar about the world, ranging from training-friendly aerobic-capable aircraft to gigantic (and extremely aerobic-incapable) jet airliners.
In this guide you'll find out the names and stats of every single plane included in each edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. Take a look!
]]>We've seen how Microsoft Flight Simulator's autogeneration has turned the Queen's abode into an office block. The data-driven city builder does a lovely job at crafting believable vistas, but it can also get a little bit confused, turning bridges into underwater roads and roads into eldritch horrors. It’s made the game slightly less realistic, but also a whole lot more interesting. Players are out there actively hunting down the glitches. Let's see what they've found. First stop: Melbourne’s new monolith.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 gives players the chance to visit Earth's famous cities and landmarks like no other game before it. But if the city or landmark in question isn't one of the preset landmarks in the game, how are you expected to find exactly where it is so you can fly over it? Well, fear not - this quick Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 guide will explain how you can use coordinates to instantly visit any exact location on Earth. So let's dive in!
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator is finally ready for boarding on PC, but if you're not sure whether your PC has the stomach for soaring through Asobo Studio's gorgeous new flight sim and its many hundreds of photorealistic cities, then I'm here to help. I've been testing the game on its recommended PC requirements today, seeing exactly what kind of performance you can get from a relatively modest PC build.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator promises an entire world. It's a stunning feat, one the game largely succeeds at, but it's understandably flubbed a few locations here and there. At least, that's the most reasonable explanation for why the global flyover has replaced Buckingham Palace with a brutal grey apartment complex - assuming, of course, the folks at Asobo and Microsoft haven't just let slip a peek at their anti-monarchist politics.
]]>If you're installing Microsoft Flight Simulator, you will find yourself hearing the same short piece of music over and over while it downloads all 91GB. Sure you could just manually mute this in the Windows mixer, but you'd be wrong. Clearly the developers intend to evoke feelings of hours sat in an airport listening to muzak after your flight's delayed, or the telephone hold music to get a refund on a holiday cancelled by the pandemic. Without installer music, you're not truly experiencing MS Flight Sim. But if you do want a break from this particular loop, we have some alternative music ideas.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator’s accuracy is astounding. I was up far too early to get to the download gate on time, but now I’m just waiting at customs, sweating, while no-one has any idea when I’ll be able to get into the air. All because Microsoft doesn’t know how to pre-load a game.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is, in certain ways, the most technically impressive game we've ever seen. And its inclusion in the Xbox Game Pass for PC means that the skies over all the world's cities will be filled up with digital planes and their gobsmacked pilots for quite some time.
But not all cities are built equal in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, with 341 cities in particular having been recreated in stunning photorealistic detail using photogrammetric data from Bing Maps. Read on to find out exactly where these 341 photorealistic cities can be found across the Earth.
]]>Reader, I'm not super fussed about planes. I didn't think Microsoft Flight Simulator would be for me, but this morning my eyes were opened. The game is gorgeous, most trailers and screenshots will attest to that, but that wasn't what really caught my attention. What grabbed me was how much wildlife there is to see. It seemed logical that it had birds and airborne creatures, but there are elephants and giraffes and bears, too!
]]>Tuesday will bring the long-awaited launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the first proper new entry in the revered aeroplane sim series in over a decade. It looks quite fancy. When exactly you'll get to play MS Flight Sim is a bit of a complicated matter, depending on which store you're going through. Get the game on Steam and bish bash bosh it'll unlock for everyone in the world at the same time. Play it on Microsoft's Store (which includes getting it through Xbox Game Pass) and you'll find 25 launch times spread across the globe.
]]>The standard edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator costs £59, but like me trying to show my parents their house from a Airbus A320neo, we can go lower. A lot lower, as it turns out. Here’s how you can play (but not own) what’s looking to be the first game of the next, next, next-generation for as low as £1. And you get over 200 other games with it as well.
]]>If you don't fancy going for the 10-disc physical version of Microsoft Flight Simulator, it turns out there'll be more than one storefront to download the chonky game digitally. The game will be making a cheeky landing on Steam when it releases next month, so now you'll be able to choose whether to grab it on there, or go with the version that's coming the Microsoft store.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator is going to be so darn large that you'll be able to fly all over the world and land on a gagillion airstrips but the world is not enough, eh Mr. Bond? That giant simulation won't stop creators from adding to and tweaking the game. Asobo Studio say they know how important unofficial add-ons are for Flight Sim, so they're adding an in-game marketplace that will allow approved developers to sell their work to players.
]]>The physical edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator will ship on 10 disks, and in 2020 this is a very easy thing to mock. I do honestly believe it has been literal years since I have even seen a single disk, and the idea of faffing about with 10 outdated retro-wheels makes me shudder. But it makes total sense! Flight Simulator models a huge portion of the earth, so the game's going to be biggo - and there are people who don't have great internet connections, so providing them with their preferred route to fiddly airborne zen times is a good thing. Plus, yunno, some people like boxes.
Still. 10 disks lol. It's probably a record.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator has been cleared for takeoff. The giant simulated world of planes will launch on August 18th. Microsoft have released a new trailer and some information about what's included in the three differently-priced versions of the game.
]]>If you fancy a go with the fancy new planes of Microsoft Flight Simulator, sign up now because MS have announced it's entering closed beta testing on July 30th. While you will need to be lucky enough to get picked, they have said they want everyone to have a chance to play, eventually. I've never played a proper sim-y plane game before but to tour the gorgeous world they're cramming into this game, I'm willing to learn.
]]>A is for Alphabetised wargame and sim news. Every four weeks or so I hang up a streamer of industrial strength fly paper in The Flare Path water closet and see what wargame and simulation news items stick to it. Below is this month’s bag – 25 stories, most of which involve virtual vehicles and surrogate slaughter. If you’ve visited a transport museum or heritage railway in the past twelve months, or can put these battles – Tsushima, Thermopylae, Trenton – in chronological order, you probably won’t regret clicking where it says…
]]>In a new development video for Microsoft Flight Simulator, Asobo Studio explain that they've created a massive shared world for all pilots. That sounds pretty cool, unless you'd rather not be flying next to some yahoo doing barrel rolls in a 747. Fortunately, you'll be able to apply filters to online play so that you only see the folks playing how you are, whether that's flying by the rules or doing sillier stuff.
]]>Microsoft Flight Simulator already looks wildly ambitious. Asobo Studio previously explained that you can fly anywhere in the world in their flight simulation. Anywhere? Anywhere. Naturally then they need to have airports everywhere. All the airports, even. So Microsoft Flight Simulator apparently features every airport in the world. A modest 37,000 of those have been manually edited by Asobo, they say in a new developer video.
]]>A is for Alphabetised wargame and sim news. Every four weeks or so I hang up a streamer of industrial strength fly paper in The Flare Path water closet and see what wargame and simulation news items stick to it. Below is this month’s bag – 25 stories involving virtual vehicles and surrogate slaughter. If you know what the G stands for in TGV, or can put these three battles – Guam, Goose Green, Guadalajara – in chronological order, you should probably click where it says…
]]>Our plane-spotters have tracked a fair bit of the taxiing Microsoft Flight Simulator, though I’m still not sure what we’re looking at isn’t a cleverly constructed ARG for the real-world. Microsoft's impossible-looking return to the Flight Sim series has shown off skies, cities, water, and clouds, but it’s all been vaguely summerish, without a hint of alternative seasons. Don’t fret, winter is coming! Over the holiday, Microsoft showed off their painstakingly recreated Earth blanketed in snow, for those who like their landings with a hint of skidding.
]]>I've built a shamefully large carbon footprint this year, jetting off to London, Zurich, Berlin and the like to play videogames in various hipster basements. The thing is, you never really get to enjoy the cities of the world from a tin terror-tube in the sky. Fortunately, Microsoft Flight Simulator is turning out to be quite a looker. We got our first look at the flight sim's digital destinations last week, offering up a cheaper and less environmentally-damning way to enjoy an urban break abroad.
]]>While I've stopped flying and am too dim for sims, goodness me Microsoft Flight Simulator still makes me coo and gasp in awe of planes. They're like birds, but made of metal! Powered by science rather than magic! And their guts aren't full of stones and digestive acids so you can go inside! Truly magnificent. My mooning continued last night with a new trailer for the upcoming pilot sim, which also revealed some of the planes and manufacturers who've signed up. These include the Boeing 747, I plane I am told is known as "the queen of the sky" for reasons I would rather not know.
]]>We Brits like nothing more than to talk about the weather. It is the great equaliser in queues, taxis, and the Brexit-related tea riots currently swarming the nation. So I am thrilled—thrilled—to show present this latest look at Flight Simulator, a game that's going to have so much weather that they need to build the planet to contain it all. If they didn't, you'd need to take an umbrella into Destiny 2. Fold your seats upright and stow your babies, we're coming in.
]]>A is for Anticipating awesome AI. General Staff's AI sounds smarter than a sack of weasels. In a recent blog post Ezra Sidran describes how MATE, the upcoming American Civil War game's ersatz commander, works out which section of an enemy line it should “Schwerpunkt” during an attack. It “identifies the opposing force that must be dealt with to achieve its assigned objective, does strength analysis of the two opposing forces, determines if the defender has anchored or unanchored flanks, calculates the slope of the attack, etc., and then calculates the Schwerpunkt after analyzing the enemy’s flank positions, supporting forces and if the attacker has an unrestricted avenue of attack.”. Evidently “bumble in the rough direction of victory locations”, the modus operandi of many a pitched battle wargame AI, isn't good enough for Ezra.
]]>Here's a confession: I actually quite like airports. Yes, they're crowded, and smelly, and charge a 200% markup on an underwhelming coffee, but there's something quietly wonderful about the space-between-countries. Within a few hours, I could be anywhere but here, and all it cost was a gross violation of my privacy and less cash than a British train making the same trip. Thanks, privatisation!
This month, it's time to pack your cabin-friendly hand-luggage and queue up for check-in - Microsoft Flight Simulator is looking for passengers to take part in its first technical alpha.
]]>A is for Afghan annihilation. A British Army defeat so unexpected and complete it caused a Governor-General of India to suffer a stroke on hearing news of it, inspires Wars Across the World's newest module. In the 16-turn Gandamak 1842 (£2) a vicious kick up the Khyber Pass awaits British players unable to overcome the overlapping challenges of rugged terrain, harsh weather, vulnerable lines of supply, and a steadily multiplying enemy.
]]>We've been drowned by E3 2019 this past week, but maybe you only waded into the river of game reveals and new trailers up to your ankles. If you didn't get your hair wet, there might be some gems among the flotsam and jetsam that you missed. That's what this post is for: we've rounded up our picks for the best games of E3, based on our own impressions of either seeing the games behind closed doors at the show, or of watching the videos from the comfort of our homes.
]]>Blimey, gosh, crikey, blow me down, and gee willikers. The Microsoft Flight Simulator kraken has woken. Arguably the greatest sim of all time is going to get a sequel and judging by the mesmerising E3 trailer that I dissect after the jump that sequel is going to be the best thing since Henry Hovis realised there was a better way to serve a loaf of bread than to place it atop a spiked chest-high column* in the centre of the parlour and have all members of the family chomp on it simultaneously.
*Known as a breadestal
]]>Trying to keep up with E3 2019 is a fool's errand, and the foaming river of content streaming down the internet's face doesn't always make it easier. So here's a round-up of every news story from the show we think matters to you, with links to our full stories (and bantful liveblogs) where relevant. We'll be updating this hourly, so keep coming back.
]]>Microsoft are returning to simulate flight with a game they call Microsoft Flight Simulator, their first serious new fly 'em up since 2006. The game's basically a mystery for now, though it does look very shiny. The fact that they've named it plainly Microsoft Flight Simulator is probably a statement of intent, given that their attempted friendly take on flying in 2012 with Microsoft Flight was bland and riddled with microtransactions. But look, shiny aeroplanes! And flamingos!
]]>Jeremy Louden's first passengers were reluctant ones. As an eleven-year-old he'd make his younger brother and sister sit behind him while he piloted his MS Flight Simulator 4.0 Learjet 25 from Chicago to San Francisco in real time. Today, flying MD-88/90s for Delta Air Lines, he no longer has to arrange chairs prior to a flight and very seldom arrives at a destination only to discover his passengers have vanished en-route.
]]>The amateurs over at Wings, Wheels and Weaponry dot com arrange their sim and wargame news snippets chronologically. The weirdos at Khaki Gaming order theirs according to size. Here at Rock and Paper and Shotgun we do things as God and Samuel Johnson intended. Below the break (spoiler warning!) A reconnoitres for B, C is relieved by D, and F arrives to find all the best billets bagsied by E, D, C, B, A and J*
*J got lost in the fog, took the wrong road, and arrived three hours ahead of schedule.
]]>(provided for reader convenience)
Tim,
There's no kind way of putting this: this week's Flare Path was a disgrace. You've done some pretty unprofessional things in the past but slyly writing-off an ambitious work-in-progress flight sim because you've seen similar projects fail, and recommending a wargame that you've played for a mere two hours, sets new standards of irresponsibility. Where was the detailed TS2016 coverage and the piece on the imminent DCS: Nevada? I turned up expecting topical analysis of genre stalwarts and found instead multiple paragraphs on an obscure half-finished Dora sim! And the less said about that awful title pun, the better. You are aware, are you not, that Loos is a good hundred miles from the Ardennes, played no part in the Battle of the Bulge, and was never visited by a WW2 railway gun? Your Meuse seems to have deserted you on this occasion.
Deeply disappointed,
(your name here)
]]>2014 wasn't exactly a bumper year for standalone flight sim releases. Apart from the flak-nibbled IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad, and eccentric WWI curios like ILYA Muromets and Canvas Knights simulated clouds had simulated skies almost all to themselves. Fortunately the add-on sector was as vigorous and ambitious as ever. Today in The Flare Path I catch up with five top flight sim supplementers, all of whom have worked their windsocks off this past twelve months. Recently discovered the delights of DCS World or purchased the A380-sized bargain that is FSX Steam Edition? Beware! What follows may pluck at your purse strings.
]]>Dovetail Games' vision and mission statements are remarkably similar to The Flare Path's. Replace “company” with “column”, “hobbies” with “articles”, and “delight and retain customers” with “debag and retrain readers” and they're pretty much identical. Whether we see eye to eye on flight simulation matters remains to be seen. I was rather hoping that this week's word slab would serve as a Rosetta Stone to the exciting but enigmatic press release issued by Dovetail on Wednesday. Searching questions were sent Kent-ward, lengthy responses received, yet somehow I still find myself confused by the Chathamites' aerial intentions.
]]>Microsoft are shutting down Microsoft Flight in October, they announced only last week It's a sad, small death for what was once of The Big Names in PC gaming. Well, sort of. This week brings news that as Microsoft Flight prepares to fly off into the sunset, Microsoft's fly 'em ups will live on in an unexpected way. Train Simulator creators Dovetail Games have licensed the rights to Microsoft's tech, planning to start making their own flying machines. They're also re-releasing ye olde Microsoft Flight Sim X on Steam later this year.
]]>This is the latest in a series of articles about the art technology of games, in collaboration with the particularly handsome Dead End Thrills.
I promised myself I wouldn't do how-to guides because there's seldom much to say, but this one doesn't count: I don't actually suggest you do this at all. It's a how-not-to, then. A how-ton't. See? Even the jokes are a mistake.
You get used to this kind of logic when playing with Flight Simulator X mods, where the mods aren't quite mods and the playing isn't quite playing. Not in the case of Tileproxy, anyway, which is so special and problematic a thing that I just had to remind you it exists.
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