By Ben Neely
The new Microsoft Flight Simulator is helping to satisfy many people’s travel itch at the moment while many Australians are in lock down. The simulator, developed by Asobo Studios, and published by Xbox Games Studios, allows total freedom for people to virtually fly across the entire planet.
The world is an exact 1:1 scale of earth, and feels incredibly immersive too, as the studio used advanced satellite data from Bing maps to implement a three-dimensional representation of the world. Asobo Studios also implemented a new and exciting cloud technology from Microsoft called Azure to generate and render incredible visuals and simulate real-world data.
Cloud technology isn’t a new technology, but it’s never been used in this way, and it allowed the studio to implement a number of first’s for the popular flight-sim series. Live-weather was the most noticeable, as it allowed real life weather to be implemented into the simulator.
This means that if its currently raining where you are, then its raining in the simulator as well, providing an incredible authentic experience. It really can provide an escape for people, as the simulator is one of the best-looking games according to many people.
The game also implements over 37,000 airports, so you won’t ever run out of runway’s to master. It also includes a selection of hand model designs for certain airports and landmarks, which help to add to the spectacle of the software.
Recently I had the chance to test the simulator out, and my first trip on the new simulator was Sydney to Bathurst in a Cessna. Taking off from Kingsford Smith airport in Botany Bay, I was completely in awe of the scope of this virtual world. When i would regularly fly by roads that I recognised driving, I would keep telling myself that it’s not real.
I played around with the simulator for a couple more hours and I walked out incredibly impressed by what I had witnessed. It’s easy to see why many Australian’s are using this technology as an escape during this coronavirus pandemic.
While Microsoft Flight Simulator is a niche piece of software, it is an incredible piece of technology that everyone should try at least once.
