cormack12
Gold Member
Source: https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/09/19/microsoft-flight-simulator-2024-preview/
(...more at link)
2020’s Microsoft Flight Simulator was by far the most successful entry in Microsoft’s longest supported franchise. It redefined what was possible from a flight simulator by utilizing a mix of cloud-based worldwide map data, cutting-edge photogrammetry, machine learning techniques, and a real-time worldwide weather simulation. These offerings, along with a complex physics system that allowed for highly sophisticated flight models, all made the famous franchise a household name again.
One of the features I’m most excited to see come to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (MSFS 2024) is its Career System, designed to bring a comprehensive and immersive experience for all manner of piloting skills. The system cleverly mimics the experience of how real-world pilots start their aviation careers. “You can pick any single airport on the planet and start your career there, which means that you are going to take your lessons at this location. Your first job can be anywhere, and I mean anywhere, in the world,” explains CCO of Asobo Studio David Dedeine. “You will start as a rookie pilot and meet a mentor who will explain to you how the career works and guide you through the very first steps in the career.”
Completing these missions successfully nets you credits and reputation, which you can then use to save up and buy your own plane and eventually manage your own fleet.”
Once you have earned enough money to run your business with your personally-owned aircraft, a new phase in MSFS 2024 opens in which you’ll be directly responsible for your aircraft; every landing, every bump on the runway, is going to impact the warranty of your planes, affecting the cost to keep them maintained. Effectively, MSFS 2024 includes a management sim inside the wider flight sim.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is also bringing massive enhancements to the simulated Earth by increasing the detail of its virtual environment by a factor of 4,000. For instance, the ground will no longer be a mere heightfield; it now features tiny stones, rocks, gravel and grass all modeled in 3D. This ground detail impacts your aircraft’s wheels as they interact with the various surfaces affecting take-offs and landings. Improved sky and atmospheric lighting, especially during sunrise and sunset, with varying displays of colors based on the makeup of the clouds ensuring accurate temperatures for all light sources. New cloud types like cirrus clouds will better simulate the highest levels of our atmosphere, while the dynamic weather has been improved as well, increasing the density to make storms and other weather phenomena much more realistic and impressive to fly through.
And it’s not just inanimate objects that are getting massive improvements. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is attempting to populate its digital Earth (the “digital twin”) as close to our real world as feasible by introducing a large cast of diverse human characters and locally-significant vehicles, all adding to the overall realism of the simulation. For instance, there’s real-time ship tracking so you can see cargo ships move throughout the world as you would in real life. You can see passengers inside airliners or moving from one location to the next in airports. And because landing just about anywhere in the world is one of the key features, due to the much more detailed environments, the development team worked closely with partners like Frontier (creators of Zoo Tycoon and Planet Zoo) to introduce many species that bring the world to life.
Another big area of improvement that’s planned is addressing the installation size
Another impressive addition to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will be its “soft body simulation” for hot air balloons. These balloons will be simulated across 6,400 surfaces giving a realistic reaction to heat density — when you turn on the heater, the air will heat up, and it’s going to inflate the massive balloon.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is launching with one of the most largely diverse groups of highly detailed aircraft systems than any flight simulator has ever come with before. It isn’t just how good these aircraft look – and they certainly look fantastic – but also the care and attention that has been given to these systems.
(...more at link)
2020’s Microsoft Flight Simulator was by far the most successful entry in Microsoft’s longest supported franchise. It redefined what was possible from a flight simulator by utilizing a mix of cloud-based worldwide map data, cutting-edge photogrammetry, machine learning techniques, and a real-time worldwide weather simulation. These offerings, along with a complex physics system that allowed for highly sophisticated flight models, all made the famous franchise a household name again.
One of the features I’m most excited to see come to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (MSFS 2024) is its Career System, designed to bring a comprehensive and immersive experience for all manner of piloting skills. The system cleverly mimics the experience of how real-world pilots start their aviation careers. “You can pick any single airport on the planet and start your career there, which means that you are going to take your lessons at this location. Your first job can be anywhere, and I mean anywhere, in the world,” explains CCO of Asobo Studio David Dedeine. “You will start as a rookie pilot and meet a mentor who will explain to you how the career works and guide you through the very first steps in the career.”
Completing these missions successfully nets you credits and reputation, which you can then use to save up and buy your own plane and eventually manage your own fleet.”
Once you have earned enough money to run your business with your personally-owned aircraft, a new phase in MSFS 2024 opens in which you’ll be directly responsible for your aircraft; every landing, every bump on the runway, is going to impact the warranty of your planes, affecting the cost to keep them maintained. Effectively, MSFS 2024 includes a management sim inside the wider flight sim.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is also bringing massive enhancements to the simulated Earth by increasing the detail of its virtual environment by a factor of 4,000. For instance, the ground will no longer be a mere heightfield; it now features tiny stones, rocks, gravel and grass all modeled in 3D. This ground detail impacts your aircraft’s wheels as they interact with the various surfaces affecting take-offs and landings. Improved sky and atmospheric lighting, especially during sunrise and sunset, with varying displays of colors based on the makeup of the clouds ensuring accurate temperatures for all light sources. New cloud types like cirrus clouds will better simulate the highest levels of our atmosphere, while the dynamic weather has been improved as well, increasing the density to make storms and other weather phenomena much more realistic and impressive to fly through.
And it’s not just inanimate objects that are getting massive improvements. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is attempting to populate its digital Earth (the “digital twin”) as close to our real world as feasible by introducing a large cast of diverse human characters and locally-significant vehicles, all adding to the overall realism of the simulation. For instance, there’s real-time ship tracking so you can see cargo ships move throughout the world as you would in real life. You can see passengers inside airliners or moving from one location to the next in airports. And because landing just about anywhere in the world is one of the key features, due to the much more detailed environments, the development team worked closely with partners like Frontier (creators of Zoo Tycoon and Planet Zoo) to introduce many species that bring the world to life.
Another big area of improvement that’s planned is addressing the installation size
Another impressive addition to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will be its “soft body simulation” for hot air balloons. These balloons will be simulated across 6,400 surfaces giving a realistic reaction to heat density — when you turn on the heater, the air will heat up, and it’s going to inflate the massive balloon.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is launching with one of the most largely diverse groups of highly detailed aircraft systems than any flight simulator has ever come with before. It isn’t just how good these aircraft look – and they certainly look fantastic – but also the care and attention that has been given to these systems.
