Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020/24

Brave

I know it’s very nerdy even for us but I’m really happy to see this make a return. I had a couple of RL friends who were devastated when they stopped making these and this looks like a really special return for the series.

https://www.dualshockers.com/microsoft-flight-simulator-weather-video/

DrDamn

Looking forward to the X1 release.

Gammerz

If you thought Elite was dull…
It’ll look very pretty. Interesting if you want to learn how to fly a plane.
There was a PC sim for a military A10 Warthog sim where it realistically took 20 mins to go through the startup checks (you can’t immediately take off military aircraft).
I found I got bored very quickly with the original game: used radio beacons for nav triangulation when lost, flew around the Statue of Liberty then went straight into the dogfighting option, iirc. From then on, only played fighter sims.

…Having watched Part 1, the detail level is staggering! Real world data streamed from Azure with options to cache data or use cut-down detail dependent upon bandwidth (which still looks great and is geographically accurate) for offline / no internet options.
Every mountain, road, airport, river, city is in the game…. data taken from Bing maps.
They procedurally generate blades of grass…!!!

Alex

Weirdly really looking forward to this, although not sure I’ll ever have the time to play it. A lovely 4K trailer was released a week or so ago. Worth cranking up the resolution if you have the screen for it.

Brave

It really does look very special.

I remember trying and failing to get into it (checks Google / sharp intake of breath ) over thirty years ago and honestly this is one of those “living in the future” moments because I remember how bad it looked on my amber monitor back then. Seeing this current version is just mind-blowing.

Alex

I always liked flight sims, I used to spend hours playing Falcon 4 and IL-2 Sturmovik. Proper hardcore stuff. I’d love to play them again, but don’t have the time. Still, with gamepass I might be persuaded to give it a go.

Gammerz

I’ve completed Ace Combat 3 (on PS1) and 4 (on PS 2) but became tired of them being too arcadey. Progressed onto the more sim-like games of IL2 Sturmovik and the sequel Birds Of Steel on X360, as was well as heli sim Apache Air Assault. It’s the combat that keeps them interesting after the impressive visuals become boring (Ace Combat 4 had particularly nice scenery).

MSFS is a game I’d like to briefly play, mainly for visuals, but probably not something I’d invest too much time in.

Deej

Looks great. Also liked a bit of Falcon back in the day 👍 In a similar vein I bought Train Sim World last year and quite enjoyed that.

Also, this is where Game Pass comes up trumps as I’d be unlikely to risk this at full price but will definitely give it a go now.

Brave

I was a Stealth Fighter guy. Sit staring at the screen while I fly silently for two hours, bomb a pixel somewhere in the middle east, fly back for two hours and mess up the landing 😉

DrDamn

ACE!

It had a hyperload version on one side of the tape which took < 5 minutes to load up and a non-hyperload version on the other side which took ₂₃ minutes!

Deej

Gunship anyone? Pop up over a triangle and fire some Hellfires(?) at some pixely mess. Loved it.

Pretty sure Falcon on the Amiga had a bug that made it almost impossible to land and you couldn’t really patch it in those days. Some things I don’t miss.

Brave

Deej I used to go round to a mate’s house at school break to play gunship. I was so jealous at the time 🙂

Munjahaidate

Gunship was ace.

Gammerz

X360 Apache Air Assault. It’s got a decent first person and co-op modes.

Gammerz

Here’s the full MS Flight Sim youtube channel. More vids have been added.

Watched third vid on aerodynamics. Wish a WW2 combat sim would come out with this handling model and general detail. They did produce a MS Combat Flight Sim. And helicopter sim, please.

What’s a Chandelle?

Alex

More amazing footage. This game is basically just graphics porn.

Brave

It’s astonishing stuff. I have to say it looks more and more like a Series X game than an x1 game.

Gammerz

Maybe it’ll be the X1 series X flagship release “game” that will demonstrate cloud computing, 4K 60 fps on Series X but also compatibility across the range with the X1X and X1?