Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 video game)

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Microsoft Flight Simulator
A Piper Cub, Airbus A320neo, and Cessna Citation Longitude flying in unison above a savannah, snowy mountain, and exotic island, bordered by triangles. In the center right, is the Microsoft Flight Simulator title in a futuristic style.
Cover art, featuring a Zlin Savage Cub Classic, Airbus A320neo, and Cessna Citation Longitude
Developer(s)Asobo Studio
Publisher(s)Xbox Game Studios
Director(s)David Dedeine
Designer(s)Damien Cuzacq
Programmer(s)Alain Guyet
Artist(s)Patrice Bourroncle
Composer(s)Finishing Move Inc.
SeriesMicrosoft Flight Simulator
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Xbox Series X/S
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows - August 18, 2020
Xbox Series X/S - 2021
Genre(s)Amateur flight simulation
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Microsoft Flight Simulator (colloquially known as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020)[a] is a flight simulator developed by Asobo Studio and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is an entry in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, which was first released in 1982, and preceded by Microsoft Flight Simulator X. It was released on August 18, 2020 for Microsoft Windows. It is the first game in the series to also get a console release, expected for the Xbox Series X and Series S in mid 2021; it is also the first in the series released on VR.

Flight Simulator simulates the entire Earth using textures and data from Bing Maps, whilst three-dimensional representations of Earth's features are generated by Microsoft Azure's AI. It uses the Azure cloud to render visuals, enhance visual fidelity, and simulate real-world data and effects, as well as calculate physics. Some places are also handcrafted, introduced in region-specific updates.

Flight Simulator was released to critical acclaim, with praise for its graphical fidelity, with it being cited as the "safest way to travel" during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, criticism also arose for its loading times and some inaccurate rendering of landmarks.

Overview

Screenshot of the game, featuring a Cirrus SR22 flying towards Hong Kong's VIctoria Harbour. At the edges are the flight parameters, and the Hong Kong Convention Center is pinpointed.
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.

Flight Simulator uses Turn 10 Studios's in-house developed game engine,[1] and leverages Microsoft Azure data, containing over two petabytes of data taken from the cloud on demand.[2] Microsoft partnered up with Blackshark.ai[3] who developed a solution that uses the Microsoft Azure cloud and artificial intelligence 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.[4] 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 based on their own parameters 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.[5] In rare cases where certain areas are blurred or pixelated on Bing Maps, it "uses procedural techniques to fill in the blanks and make sure there is something in the space."[6]

Asobo has created their own flight model engine, allowing thousands of surfaces and 3D forces and moments to be fully simulated.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] Other sources of data include terrain data for landscaping, data for foliage density, real-time meteorological data, and air traffic updates.[11] A separate atmospheric renderer simulates accurate humidity and pollution.[12] Microsoft has stated that the player's aircraft feels air as it lifts, drags, or slides as they come in contact with it, accounting for ice on the wings, pollution particles, or how wind moves through buildings or across tree tops, as well as friction of rubber to asphalt when the aircraft touches down, with the aircraft responding accurately to each of these instances.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] In regards to foliage, the game geometrically renders individual blades of grass and seas also contain waves created by the wind.[16]

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.[17] 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."[18] Flight Simulator makes use of ray-marching. The game'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.[19] In addition to a complex lighting system, Flight Simulator makes use of highly detailed shaders.[20] Flight Simulator makes extensive use of screen-space reflections and bokeh depth of field.[21]

Flight Simulator populates the world with animals and roads with vehicles, water flows realistically based on wind direction, grass has individual grass blades and trees have individual leaves, creating the illusion of a living world.[22] The game world includes over 2 million cities and towns,[23] 1.5 billion buildings, 2 trillion trees, and 37,000 real-world airports.[24] In regards to runways, dedicated tools allow Asobo to outline the site perimeter, runway footprint, orientation, as well as other properties.[jargon] 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 PC or console in real time.[25] Flight Simulator features various animal species that can even be viewed at ground level, including birds, elephants, giraffes and bears.[26] It also allows the player to scout, "chase" and interact with real-world storms as they occur in real time.[27]

Gameplay

Score screen of a player's landing challenge entry set in Courchevel Airport, along with its rank worlwide.
After the landing challenge, players can see their scores, and the rank they're in worldwide. Here, the player scored 1,071,810 and ranked 5538, at a challenge set in Courchevel Altiport.

Before starting, Flight Simulator has a tutorial program that allows the players to learn basic controls, flight instruments, and other basics deemed essential to know before flying, which ends with a takeoff and landing test. Each sequences of the tutorial teaches different things, for example, the fourth sequence teaches how to land. It also offers 24 landing challenges to some of the most famous and dangerous airports. Grades of a player depends on how center they are to the runway, how close they are to the touchdown zone of the runway when they touchdown, and the feet-per-minute (FPM) at touchdown.[28] Asobo also announced three "sight-seeing bush trips, which include overflights of Nevada, Patagonia, and the Balkans."[29]

Flight Simulator has an 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. In addition, "Route & Waypoints" enables markers to guide players in the sky, and "Landing Path" guides players on landing.[30] This feature is not available on challenges.[28] "Travel To" time-lapses the flight, condensing long-haul flights. "Active Pause" pauses the flight, allowing players to explore the surrounding area. Flight Simulator also allows players to search for faunas in the game, either by searching "fauna" on the World Map, or selecting "Fauna Markers" when in mid-air.[30] 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.[31]

At the gameplay screen, features a toolbar, where players can talk with the air traffic controller, switch camera views, modify checklists, adjust AI systems, adjust fuel tanks, view the navigation log, see objectives, view the VFR map, and adjust the weather; buttons in the bar can be changed. There is also a compass at the top left, and at the bottom are the altimeter, throttle, engine, fuel, flaps, and trim tabs. Additional features like the head-up display (HUD) are accessible from the settings.[31]

A physical, purchasable device is TrackIR, an infrared peripheral that "tracks user’s head movements inside the cockpit."[29]

Popular destinations

Several destinations have been highly-visited by players. On August 2020, many players went to the Little Saint James island in the US Virgin Islands, where child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reportedly molested underaged girls at. YouTubers and Redditors shared their experiences and shared the coordinates of the island. The Independent opines that the case's subject to conspiracy theories are a main drive of interest. It was quickly noted that the game failed to render the island in a detailed fashion;[32] Vice analyzed that the game does not include the iconic dome featured in the island. It thinks that the activity "is just another way for people to satisfy their fascination with one of the most horrible stories in recent memory, and not that different than sending drones to film the island and chartering private boats to explore its buildings."[33]

During the 2020 West Coast fires. several players went to the impacted areas, and found out the smokes from the fires can be seen through the game. Although the details are not too accurate, but it "does help to contextualize just how big the fires are, and how much of the state is impacted by them."[34] As Hurricane Laura was approaching Texas and Louisiana, players flew inside the Category 4 hurricane.[35] The Washington Post noted its inaccuracy in wind speeds, and that the hurricane did not swirl.[36] Mathias Müller, head of Meteoblue, a Swiss company who incorporated realistic, real-time and worldwide weather data to the game, said: "Yesterday’s hurricane was very beautiful to look at and was accurately predicted by our models even days ahead. We are very happy that real-time weather is now part of Flight Simulator. It was a long journey as integrating these massive amounts of data required the solution of many problems. [W]e would like to have even more details and weather parameters we already compute for our customers [...], but the development on the game side is extremely complex and takes time."[35]

Many players have also travelled to their own houses via the game. Asobo revealed that, in a survey, 70% of players had immediately flown to their houses or hometown.[37]

Features

Aircraft

The Standard edition of Flight Simulator includes 20 flyable aircraft, with the Deluxe and Premium Deluxe edition also having 5 and 10 additional airplanes, respectively. Most of the aircraft are of American, French, or German origin, with a few coming from Austrian, Czech and Slovenian companies. Aircraft included starting from the Deluxe version include those manufactured by Diamond Aircraft, Cirrus Aircraft, and Textron Aviation Inc., while aircraft exclusively for the Premium Deluxe version include the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner and the Cessna Citation Longitude, as well as several general aviation aircraft.[38]

Airports

Flight Simulator includes around 37,000 manually edited airports from around the world based on real-world satellite images,[39] with the Standard, Deluxe, and Premium Deluxe edition respectively also including 30, 35, or 40, respectively, "highly detailed hand-crafted replicas" of their real-world counterparts. Airports included starting from the deluxe version include those from the US, Europe, and Africa, while those exclusively for the Premium Deluxe version include the Heathrow and Dubai Airport, as well as those from the US and Europe.[38]

Third-party developers

Third-party aircraft and airports will also be supported within the simulator, being directly purchased from the in-game marketplace. There are a plethora of third-party developers involved. Notable confirmed third-party aircraft include the Concorde, developed by DC Designs.[40] The Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network and International Virtual Aviation Organisation are online flight-simulation networks confirmed to be supported within Flight Simulator.[41][42] Many of the third-party aircraft are repaints or exclusive liveries.[43] Several London scenery packs were also announced.[44] In addition, there are also weather add-ons designed by Weather Preset Pro. The team has stated that they "welcome [all third party developers] onboard," and that they are "critically important."[45] Twinfinite applauded the decision, that "Microsoft Flight Simulator aims to introduce many newcomers to the joys of the genre."[46]

Development

"Using data of Microsoft’s home city of Seattle, which Bing Maps has rendered down to five-centimeter resolution [...], Asobo took a few weeks to put together a demo of a Cessna flying downtown. Neumann then showed it to Phil Spencer [...].

“He just looked at me and said, ‘Why are you showing me a video of [...] a plane?’” Neumann says. “And then the plane turned, and we flew over the Microsoft campus where we were [... right now]. And he’s like, ‘Is this real time? Is this running?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, it is!’ And we knew then we had something special.”

– Jörg Neumann on presenting an early build of Flight Simulator to Xbox head Phil Spencer[47]

Flight Simulator was announced at E3 2019 on June 9, 2019.[48] It is the first major entry in the 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. It was developed by the French Asobo Studio and published by Xbox Game Studios.[49] The game was released on August 18, 2020.[50] The game is powered by Turn 10 Studios Ftech X engine known from Forza.[51]

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.[52]Xbox chief Phil Spencer had also stated that Flight Simulator is part of Microsoft's renewed commitment to PC gaming. According to Spencer: "Sarah Bond, who's our head of global partnerships, came out, did the Game Pass work with the indie montage and all those games that were coming to Game Pass, then announced Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The next games that were there—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." On bringing back Flight Simulator, Spencer 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'. Flight Sim was a game in our past that sold millions and millions of units and had a very, very passionate community—in fact, they're still out there. So, okay. Can we do something new with Flight Sim? Can we actually move it forward in an interesting way?"[53]

Six years before release, the foundations for Flight Simulator began through work with Asobo on a product called HoloTour for Microsoft's HoloLens augmented 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 vs. 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. Neumann also met with Meteoblue to incorporate realistic, real-time, and worldwide weather data into the product.[54][35][55] The technology was also incorporated from Microsoft's discontinued Photosynth project, which generates 3D models from 2D photos.[56]

In a CNN report on the franchise's history with the flight simulating community and current real-world pilots, Neumann stated:

"First and foremost we're making a product for simmers. 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."[57]

On September 29, 2020 after Tokyo Game Show 2020 Online, Microsoft implemented the game's first update, which centers upon Japan. Nicknamed "World Update 1," it features "an upgraded digital elevation map" across Japan, photogrammetry for Sendai, Takamatsu, Tokushima, Tokyo, Utsunomiya, and Yokohama, as well as handcrafting Hachijojima, Kerama, Kushiro, Nagasaki, Shimojishima, and Suwanosejima Airport. It also adds landing challenges set in the country. After Japan, they would go to other places in the world and "spruce the place up a bit."[58] During the 2020 Thanksgiving, Microsoft added 50 structures in the United States, including the White House, Fort Knox, Hoover Dam, Kennedy Space Center, and Las Vegas Strip, which was updated to be lit up during night.[59] The next world update focuses on the United Kingdom, planned to be launched on January 28, 2021.[60] Also including Wales, England, and Scotland, and with Northern Ireland ambitioned, it will handcraft airports like Land’s End, Liverpool EGGP, and Manchester Barton, as well as new challenges and "a brand new flight."[61]

Microsoft released a set of feedbacks from fans, like requests for helicopters, structure updates, inaccurate details fix, and need for improved systems. Some of the fixes have been planned, under investigation, or started. Helicopters are said to be introduced in 2022.[60]

Release

Sometime after its unveiling in E3 2019, on June 10, 2019, Microsoft announced that it will be organizing an Insider Program, where members can get access to the alpha version of the game, and can provide feedback, suggestions, and criticisms to the developers right away.[62] Those willing to volunteer in the program will be undergone a selection session; if they are selected, they will have 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.[63] A year later, Microsoft announced the beta version of the game.[64] On November 2019, FSX has a beta "branch" which will gain telemetry data which will help the development of Flight Simulator. It was available for free for all FSX and FSX Steam Version players.[65]

On July 13, 2020, Microsoft opened up preorders, and on August 18, 2020, Flight Simulator became available for PC.[66] The company, who said that the game is the largest release throughout its history,[67] 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 (listed in section "Features").[68] While still having no specific dates, Xbox announced it will be released for Series X and Series S in mid 2021.[69] A Microsoft spokesperson stated that plans of release on Xbox One will be talked about c. 2021.[70] 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.[38]

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.[71]

In just "a matter of weeks," there had been over 1 million users playing the game.[67] Market intelligence firm Jon Peddie Research claimed that simulator enthusiasts are among the most active gamers online, projecting the prediction that Flight Simulator fans may spend $2.6 billion over the next three years for the game. Peddie also predicts that there will be more than 2.27 million copies sold. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices may benefit from this, due to "the demand flight simulators place on CPUs," among with Nvidia.[72]

Retail version

Photograph of the game's CD. Inside the box there are two discs.
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. The physical version will be 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.[73] 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.[74] The Premium Deluxe edition also comes with an artbook.[75][failed verification] The retail version's digital license has to be redeemed on the Microsoft Store. Otherwise there is no difference between the boxed retail and digital versions.[citation needed]

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.[75]

VR version

Neumann stated that a VR version of Flight Simulator was the "very first feedback" they received after the unveiling at E3 2019.[76] In July at a developer livestream on Twitch, they announced a virtual reality (VR) version of Flight Simulator.[60] It was later released on December 22, 2020, designated as a free update.[77] While it was previously announced to only be supported on Microsoft Mixed Reality devices, Asobo announced that it is supported on all VR devices, including those of the Oculus and Valve family,[60] as well as SteamVR.[78] The first device that will be supporting the game is Hewlett-Packard's Reverb G2; it was the headset's launch title. Support for other devices will be launched after the Reverb launches.[76]

In the VR version, two new tutorials were released, including one using the Airbus A320neo.[60] Corresponding with the VR update, "real-time snow and true-to-life ice coverage to the entire planet" was introduced by Microsoft."[77] Microsoft announced "new performance optimizations" which will reduce the complications of the "hefty" required specifications: an i5-8400/Ryzen 5 1500X, GTX 970, and 16 gigabytes of RAM.[78]

Reception

Aggregation

Microsoft Flight Simulator received "universal acclaim" from critics, with 91 out of 100 scores according to review aggregator Metacritic, based on 66 reviews,[79] and is rated the third-best PC game of 2020, behind Half-Life: Alyx and Hades.[90] On OpenCritic, it scored 92 in average and was rated "Mighty" based on 86 critics, along with the summary "Microsoft Flight Simulator is a technical marvel, with an insane amount of polish, incredible realism, and phenomenal controls."[91] The Internet Game Database rates it 92 based on nine critics,[92] and whatoplay gives it 8.83 out of 10 based on 41 critics.[93] In addition, TechSpot takes metadata from 17 "expert reviews," and scored it a 94: 16 marked it "excellent" while one marked it "good," with other lower scales being "average" and "bad."[94]

Critical and general response

Prior to release, game development and graphics publication 80 LEVEL described Flight Simulator as "one of the most authentic-looking landscape 3D simulations ever in the history of video games," and states that "Microsoft is not only changing the face of simulators and aerial simulation, but the way companies actually build games."[12] Polygon's Charlie Hall called the game "the most magical thing I've ever seen on a computer screen,"[95] later ranking it the third Game of the Year.[96] Eurogamer praised the game for creating "one of those rare wow moments that come along once a generation, or that maybe herald the next. This really is a phenomenal thing,"[14] and medaled it a Eurogamer Essential.[97] LADbible wrote that "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 might just be the best-looking video game of all time."[98]

IGN's Seth Macy praised the attention to detail and graphics, and called it "the most incredible experience I've ever had on a computer."[99] PC Gamer's Phil Iwaniuk described that the "simulation model is more detailed than it's ever been."[100] On Common Sense Media, Chad Sapieha gave the film a solid five stars, stating that the game is "among the most authentic simulations of any complex human activities." Rated as for ages 10 and above on the website, it is sealed as a Common Sense selection for families,[101] a seal for "outstanding media [with] quality and impact."[102] Paste listed Flight Simulator in their top 10 best games of 2020, behind Spelunky 2 and beating Final Fantasy VII Remake,[103] whilst USGamer awarded it as August 2020's Game of the Month.[104]

According to Paul Sillers, writing for CNN, Flight Simulator might be "the safest way to travel" during the COVID-19 pandemic, and due to global economic conditions in the wake of COVID-19, is being used by furloughed pilots to keep their skills fresh.[105] In another review of Flight Simulator, CNN called Flight Simulator "an essential buy for anyone who’s into exquisite [...], fantastic gameplay and those moments that make you marvel over what can be accomplished these days by technology" and one of the best 2020 games[106]

Paul Tassi of Forbes says that "Microsoft Flight Simulator is a different sort of…game than 99% of other releases in a given year. It has a very [...] niche audience, an extremely loyal, devoted one,[b] but no, Last of Us or Ori players can’t really just hop on over into [it] and expect it to be a “game” in the same way." It is listed as "reason #434 why everyone should probably have Game Pass at this point."[107] Writing for The New York Times, Farhad Manjoo stated that "the new Flight Sim is more than a technical achievement or a marketing demo. I found it to be most compelling as a preview of a new kind of digital experience. In a way that I have never before felt from a piece of software, the game plunged me into sustained meditations on the permeability between the real world and the online one—and it offered me some hope of a more realistic kind of online life in the future."[108]

Rami Ismail conducted a casual test of the accuracy of the game performing an in-game real-time flight from Montreal to Amsterdam while simultaneously travelling commercially on that same route, and found the game's flight to be accurate within minutes of the real flight. To conclude, he called the game "absolutely staggering," and "wild."[109] Investigative journalist Giancarlo Fiorella said that "If this simulation is really good, [...] then that might actually help us with geolocation when we’re trying to figure out where a video or picture was taken." He went to El Helicoide, currently a place for detaining political prisoners and SEBIN offices, as well as the northeastern area of Damascus, sites of the Battle of Aleppo, as well as the Uyghur camps in Xinjiang. He concluded that the game is not a viable tool for geolocation and investigative works.[6]

A triple-monitor flight simulation setup. At the screen is the loading screen: an Airbus A320neo in a pink-and-white background of clouds; the camera zooms in the plane's bottom left.
The game's loading screen, displayed with a multi-monitor gaming setup. The loading times are one of the main criticisms of the game.

On Steam, however, many users were frustrated with the long in-game installation forcing them to exceed two hours of gameplay and lose the right to a refund, resulting in a review bomb, several users demanding refunds, and the game's rating dropping to 6 out of 10 stars.[110] (Steam grants refunds on titles only if the user has played the title for less than two cumulative hours). However, Steam has addressed this issue and has stated that "the time it takes your machine to download the additional content will not be counted against the Steam Refund Policy."[111]

Some also reported inaccuracies in rendering buildings such as the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. and Buckingham Palace in London, in which its monuments have been misrendered as a skyscraper and an office block respectively. Due to a topographical error in the height of a Melbourne suburban building in OpenStreetMap, data which had been used by Bing Maps and thence used by Asobo, the flight simulator initially rendered a two-storey building as 212 storeys—inserting an improbably thin and tall skyscraper into the suburb.[112] Some also discovered that the system is unable to render palm trees, making them into obelisks "jutting forth from the pavement like so many teeth." The TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida has also been misrendered as an office building with grass roofs. Many users on the Flight Simulator support forums also report instability and game crashes without due cause. Despite this, Tom Warren of The Verge said that "the glitches are more amusing than they are game breaking."[113]

Many also complained on the download times, that have been either slow or stuck. An integrated content manager is found to be the problem. Windows Central said that such bugs are expected: "Just remember, it's launch day."[114] There are also reports that handcrafted airports and aircraft exclusive to the Deluxe and Premium Deluxe version are unable to be loaded. The content manager is also found to be the point of frustration here. A Flight Simulator developer said that "looking into the issue," while noting that "It may take up to few more hours for the additional content to unlock. Your Deluxe or Deluxe Premium content will then be downloaded via the Content Manager."[115]

Notes

  1. ^ Also referred to as Flight Simulator 2020, Microsoft Flight Sim 2020, and Flight Sim 2020. Abbreviations include MSFS, MFS 2020, FS2020, and FS.
  2. ^ Referring to aviation enthusiasts.

References

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External links

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