It has been more than a decade since Microsoft released Microsoft Flight Simulator X in 2006. After the release of their latest flight simulator game, the entire series came to a stop. Next year, the Microsoft Flight Simulator series makes a comeback after more than a decade of silence. It is time to take a look at what prepares a simulator for the future?
In the last years, we have not seen a large developer and publisher create a flight simulator. After more than a decade, Microsoft Flight Simulator makes a return.
To be clear, this is the first Microsoft Flight Simulator title to be released since the 2014 release of Microsoft Flight Simulator X, a re-release of the original Flight Simulator X released in 2006.
Be in control of the plane
In terms of realism in previous flight simulators games, the efforts of Microsoft are well known and respected. The developers promises both beginners and professionals a great gameplay experience.
Microsoft returns the simulator genre back to its roots with this long-awaited flight simulator and both experienced flight simulator players and first time pilots will be able to explore the cockpit of their favourite plane at their own pace.
Satellite data and real-time weather information
The environment looks impressive. The developers of Microsoft Flight Simulator are able to utilise satellite images to recreate the environment as realistic as possible. According to Microsoft and developers, this geographical information demands two petabytes of storage.
Microsoft Flight Simulator looks incredible, but requires cloud services and a stable internet connection. Even more impressive is the use of real-time weather information. This means that Microsoft Flight Simulator will mirror the weather of live weather data feeds in the virtual world.
The processing power of the cloud create new opportunities for developers and makes the next generation of simulator games possible, but the absence of publisher Microsoft opened the door for other publisher to enter the market.
Drive a truck and deliver supplies
In the last decade, the larger publishers showed no interest in the simulator genre. One exception is the truck simulator sub-genre in which you deliver supplies to local businesses as a professional truck diver.
Due to the limited competition in the simulator genre, the available truck simulators received a lot of attention from the fans of the genre. The latest truck simulator Truck Driver even released on consoles. This means that there is a target audience interested in a more serious flight simulator too.
Virtual reality and peripherals
After the release of the first footage of Microsoft Flight Simulator, gamers demanded support for virtual reality headsets. The developers confirmed that they are trying to implement these immersive technologies and support for accessories but this may not happen before launch.
After a decade of silence, the flight simulator genre looks as fresh as ever. The implementation of technologies such as the cloud, virtual reality and real-time weather data, take these simulators back to the present and prepare them for the future.
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Disclaimer. This post contains copyrighted images from Microsoft Flight Simulator, a video game developed by Asobo Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. The fair use of copyrighted works for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting or research is not considered as an infringement of copyright.
