Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 video game)
| Microsoft Flight Simulator | |
|---|---|
| A series of general aviation and commercial aircraft flying in unison above three different areas with different climates, bordered by triangles. In the center, slightly diagonal, is the Microsoft Flight Simulator title. | |
| Developer(s) | Asobo Studio |
| Publisher(s) | Xbox Game Studios |
| Series | Microsoft Flight Simulator |
| Engine | ACE (Asobo Conception Engine)[1][2] |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Amateur flight simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Microsoft Flight Simulator, colloquially known as Flight Simulator 2020, is an upcoming flight simulator developed by Asobo Studio and published by Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. It will be released on August 18, 2020 for Microsoft Windows.[3] It is the eleventh major entry in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, preceded by Flight Simulator X.
Flight Simulator will simulate the entire Earth using textures and topographical data from Bing Maps. Three-dimensional representations of the world's features, such as terrain, trees, grass, buildings, and water will be generated using Microsoft Azure technology. Some players received the Alpha version as part of the game's Insider program.[4] On July 13, 2020, Microsoft opened up preorders, and announced that Flight Simulator for PC would be available on August 18, 2020.[5]
Overview
Flight Simulator will feature Asobo's in-house developed game engine, and leverage Bing Maps data, accessing over two petabytes of data from the cloud on demand.[6] Azure AI 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 photo-realism, and other parts in high definition.[7] 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, 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.[8]
Asobo has created their own flight model engine, allowing thousands of surfaces and 3D forces and moments to be fully simulated.[6] There will also be realistic physics and weather systems, and utilization of real-world weather data. An example used at E3 2019 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.[9] Flight Simulator features a 600 kilometre draw distance and allows the player to see storms hundreds of miles away, with lightning cracking inside of clouds.[10]
Through cloud-based technology, Flight Simulator streams data to the computer or console in real time, with AI being utilized to extrapolate geometry from a blend of satellite and flyover imagery.[11] Flight Simulator coverts 3D scans of the environment into the game world. Other sources of data include terrain data for landscaping, data for foliage density, real-time meteorological data, and air traffic updates.[12] A separate atmospheric renderer simulates accurate humidity and pollution.[13] Microsoft has stated that the player's aircraft will feel 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.[14] Skyscrapers will cast shadows over each other that darken as the player reaches street level and cities will disperse light at night that radiates the sky.[15] 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.[16] In regards to foliage, the game will geometrically render individual blades of grass and seas will also contain waves created by the wind.[17] Volumetric lighting is utilized for various effects, including illuminating water droples, some of which will occupy the entirety of the cockpit window, and with everything being simulated in real-time.[18] 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”.[19] Flight Simulator makes use of "ray-marching" - a lower-fidelity version of ray-tracing with surface movement being traced. 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.[20][21] In addition to a complex lighting system, Flight Simulator makes use of highly-detailed shaders.[22] Flight Simulator makes extensive use of screen-space reflections and bokeh depth of field[23]
Flight Simulator will populate the world with animals and roads with vehicles, water will flow realistically based on wind direction, grass will have individual grass blades and trees will have individual leaves, creating the illusion of a living world.[24] The game world will include over two million cities and towns,[25] 1.5 billion buildings, 2 trillion trees, and 37,000 real-world airports.[26] In regards to runways, dedicated tools allow Asobo to outline the site perimeter, runway footprint, orientation, as well as other properties. 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.[27]
Flight Simulator allows the player to scout, "chase" and interact with real-world storms as they occur in real-time.[28]
Development
"Using data of Microsoft’s home city of Seattle, which Bing Maps has rendered down to five-centimeter resolution with photogrammetry, Asobo took a few weeks to put together a demo of a Cessna flying downtown. Neumann then showed it to Phil Spencer, a VP at the time who is now the head of Xbox.
“He just looked at me and said, ‘Why are you showing me a video of Seattle with a plane?’” Neumann says. “And then the plane turned, and we flew over the Microsoft campus where we were sitting at that exact moment. 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 2020 to Xbox head Phil Spencer[29]
Flight Simulator was announced at E3 2019 on June 9, 2019.[30] It is the first major entry in the series since 2006's Flight Simulator X, following a long period of uncertainty over the future of the series after the closure of Aces Game Studio in 2009. It is being developed by the French Asobo Studio and will be published by Xbox Game Studios.[31][32] The game is set to be released on August 18, 2020.[33]
Release
On July 13, 2020, Microsoft opened up preorders, and announced that Flight Simulator for PC would be available on August 18, 2020.[5] The company 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.[34] The pricing ranged from US $59.99 for Standard, to US $89.99 for Deluxe, and US $119.99 for the Premium Deluxe edition.[34] While the initial launch is focused on the PC, the date for launch on the Xbox family of consoles is awaited.[35]
Retail version
Aerosoft, a German manufacturer of simulation software, announced in July 2020 that they have partnered with Microsoft to release a physical version in Europe. It is available in two editions, Standard and Premium Deluxe (see the features comparison below), and comes with 10 dual-layer DVDs and a printed manual.[36] The Premium Deluxe edition also comes with an artbook.[37] Otherwise, there is no difference between boxed retail and the version Microsoft sells directly.
However, it is to be noted that the discs contain only the installer and the basic content (aircraft, default world etc.) that is around 90 GB and not playable out of the box; the actual simulator software and updates are downloaded during installation. An active internet connection is also needed for the simulator to update itself when needed. Additionally, more details for the world, better ground imagery, as well as weather and traffic data can optionally be streamed from Microsoft's servers.[37]
Features
Aircraft
Aircraft to be included in the final release include the following, depending on the edition:[3]
| Aircraft | Manufacturer | Standard | Deluxe | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A320neo | Airbus |  |
|
|
| Pitts Special S2S | Aviat | |
|
|
| 747-8 | Boeing | |
|
|
| XCub | Cub Crafters | |
|
|
| SOCATA TBM 930 | Daher | |
|
|
| DA40 NG | Diamond Aircraft | |
|
|
| DA62 | Diamond Aircraft | |
|
|
| 330LT | Extra Aircraft | |
|
|
| CTLS | Flight Design | |
|
|
| ICON A5 | ICON Aircraft | |
|
|
| VL-3 | JMB Aircraft | |
|
|
| CAP 10 | Robin Aircraft | |
|
|
| DR400 Cadet | Robin Aircraft | |
|
|
| Beechcraft Bonanza G36 | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Beechcraft King Air 350i | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Cessna 152 | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Cessna 172 Skyhawk (G1000) | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Cessna 208B Grand Caravan | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Cessna Citation CJ4 | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Savage Cub | Zlin Aircraft | |
|
|
| DA40-TDI | Diamond Aircraft |  |
|
|
| DV20 | Diamond Aircraft | |
|
|
| Beechcraft Baron G58 | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Cessna 152 Aerobat | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Cessna 172 Skyhawk | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner | Boeing | |
|
|
| SR22 | Cirrus Aircraft | |
|
|
| Virus SW 121 | Pipistrel | |
|
|
| Cessna Citation Longitude | Textron Aviation | |
|
|
| Shock Ultra | Zlin Aircraft | |
|
|
| Total | 20 | 25 | 30 | |
Third-party aircraft will also be supported within the simulator, being directly purchased from the in game marketplace. Notable confirmed third party aircraft are the Concorde, developed by DC designs, as well as many other aircraft.[citation needed]
The Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network, also known as Vatsim, is an online flight-simulation network confirmed to be supported within Microsoft Flight Simulator.[38]
Airports
Flight Simulator will include around 37,000 manually edited airports from around the world based on real-world satellite images,[39] of which 30, 35, or 40 are hand-crafted replicas of their real-world counterparts, depending on the edition.[3]
Hand-crafted replica airports to be included in the final release include the following:[3]
References
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator for Xbox One". Console Mania Games. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator: everything we know about the boundless aviation sim". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Microsoft Flight Simulator Set for Launch on August 18 for PC, also with Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta)". Microsoft Flight Simulator. June 13, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Insider Program Faq | Microsoft Flight Simulator". Retrieved February 17, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Warren, Tom (July 13, 2020). "Microsoft Flight Simulator will launch on August 18th on PC". The Verge. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ a b Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 | PRE-ALPHA Gameplay Footage | 737 Captain Review, retrieved November 12, 2019
- ^ "All I want to do is chill and play Flight Simulator". Engadget. September 30, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- ^ Battaglia, Alex (July 30, 2020). "How Flight Simulator delivers maximum fidelity visuals". Eurogamer. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ "Flight Simulator is back, and it's real: Microsoft uses the cloud to help classic franchise soar again". GeekWire. September 30, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- ^ Garreffa, Anthony (July 31, 2020). "Flight Simulator: machine learning-fueled simulator, grows over time". Tweaktown. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ L., Stefan (January 30, 2020). "Glance at these 10 short new Microsoft Flight Simulator videos". The SixthAxis. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Calitz, Garth (July 8, 2020). "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is as real as it gets". Flightline Weekly. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Kirill, Tokarev (October 4, 2019). "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020: Redefining Game Production". 80 Level. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "New Microsoft Flight Simulator Is More Realistic and Accurate". CdrInfo.com. September 30, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Robinson, Martin (July 30, 2020). "Microsoft Flight Simulator is a Once-in-a-Generation "Wow" Moment". Eurogamer. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Donaldson, Alex (July 30, 2020). "Microsoft Flight Simulator is nothing short of astounding". VG24/7. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Costa, Sérgio (September 30, 2020). "HANDS-ON: MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2020 GLOBAL PREVIEW EVENT". HeliSimmer.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Ridley, Jacob (June 26, 2020). "What's the next Crysis? The games that give the RTX 2080 Ti nightmares". PC Gamer. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Kamen, Matt (June 26, 2020). "Microsoft Flight Simulator preview – photorealism powered by *checks notes* Bing". VG24/7. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator is As Awe Inspiring as Flight Itself". AusGamers. July 30, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Novak, Isaac (July 30, 2020). "Flight Simulator hands-on: Microsoft looks different 20,000 feet in the air". Up News Info. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Rahming, A.K (June 26, 2020). "FSX vs Microsoft Flight Simulator comparison video shows massive upgrades". PC Invasion. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Papadopoulos, John (July 4, 2020). "Microsoft Flight Simulator looks gorgeous in these latest alpha screenshots". DSO Gaming. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ "Feature Discovery Series Episode 1: World". YouTube. October 14, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Hall, Charlie (September 30, 2019). "The biggest surprise of Microsoft Flight Simulator: it makes Bing cool". Polygon. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- ^ Hachman, Mark (July 13, 2020). "Microsoft Flight Simulator takes off August 18 in three editions for PC". PCWorld. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
- ^ Brown, Matt (July 30, 2020). "List of Microsoft Flight Simulator Airports". Windows Central. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ Robinson, Martin (August 5, 2020). "Chasing Storm Isaias in Microsoft Flight Simulator". Eurogamer. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Byford, Sam (July 30, 2020). "How Microsoft Flight Simulator returned to the skies". The Verge. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator – E3 2019 – Announce Trailer". YouTube. June 9, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- ^ Machkovech, Sam (September 30, 2019). "The new MS Flight Simulator taught me how to fly an actual plane". Ars Technica. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator | Asobo Studio". www.asobostudio.com. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator Set For Launch on August 18 For PC, Also With Xbox Game Pass For PC (Beta)". July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ a b "Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2020 will launch on August 18". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator Launches Aug. 18". PCMAG. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Orland, Kyle. "Please insert disc: Microsoft Flight Simulator will spread across ten DVDs". ArsTechnica. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
- ^ a b "Aerosoft official retail partner for Microsoft Flight Simulator". Aerosoft Community Services. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ "A Big Day for VATSIM | VATSIM.net". www.vatsim.net. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ Morton, Lauren (February 21, 2020). "Asobo Studio manually edited 37,000 airports for Microsoft Flight Simulator". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved July 25, 2020.