Four years after the release of Flight SimulatorAsobo and Microsoft are already taking off again with version 2024 available this November 19. And the promise of enjoying it a little more.
Virtual planes have been flying over the planet for more than 40 years. Now under the Microsoft banner, but did you know that the game initially took off in 1980… on Apple II? At the time, he only had four colors to express himself, and rudimentary decorations and representations. It was only two years later that it landed on PC and that Microsoft considered its true birth, refining it over time until reaching what we thought would be a mind-blowing milestone visually and in terms of reconstitution in 2020.
“Flight Sim 2020 largely met our expectations and those of the community”, says Jörg Neumann, head of Microsoft Flight Simulatorfrom Tech&Co. “This is without doubt the best technical period and the best virtualization of the game that I have seen.”
Arriving in summer 2020 on PC first before expanding to console and cloud, Flight Sim has restored its letters of nobility to flight simulation and managed to attract new fans thanks to its technological prowess and its realism. “When we started thinking about the game in 2016, there were mostly players who were very hardcore PC et simulation pure“remembers Jörg Neumann. “Over time, we attracted other types of players, particularly through the move to the Xbox console, and particularly those who just wanted to hang out.”
The simple pleasure of taking a plane ride
Of the approximately 12 million first users of the game, Asobo and Microsoft noted that “3 million were simulation fans, 3 million more traditional and curious players, 6 million digital tourists” who enjoy flying over the planet to go from one end to the other.
Enough to nourish a strong community for four decades which continues to grow, but also to have its demands and a keen eye on the game. “We trust each other, we listen to each other”, recognizes the boss of the game. “It's a super harmonious and super constructive relationship. They give us very good feedback. And it's always beneficial. It's for them somewhere that we made the 40th anniversary edition in 2022. They are extremely passionate and invested. We wanted to make them contribute and thank them in this way.”
Of the dozen devices added to this version, 10 were submitted by the community teams (more than twenty revolve around the game via forums, discussions, groups, etc.). “If we call it from now on Flight Sim 2020 to differentiate it from the new one, it is because the community called it that. We said to ourselves: “Oh well, ok. We'll call it that”, laughs Jörg Neumann.
And the community obviously said what they wanted to see happen in the new version, barely four years after what many considered the ultimate simulation. Because for Flight Sim 2020Microsoft had already been able to bring the power of its cloud servers and its services (Bing for cartography in particular) to Asobo Studio, praised for previous modeling of the world in virtual reality.
“Thanks to our notion of Digital Twin (identical reproduction of the Earth, Editor’s note), Flight Sim no longer as technical as before. Many players thought it was complicated to maneuver the plane when they just wanted to fly over the planet, checking out the environments. So we have put teams in place to respond to all of this,” he adds.
Taking up the fundamentals of the game and its desire to be an excellent simulation for seasoned pilots with its multiple settings and in-flight sensations, Flight Sim was also able to offer a “simple” trip to these new kind of tourists, eager to fly over the pyramids of Egypt from their apartment, to face a snowstorm above Alaska, to see flocks of birds near the Pacific islands. Without stress or complications.
A more realistic and more immersive Flight Sim 2024
Flight Sim 2024 will not revolutionize what has been achieved, but is nevertheless intended to be an ambitious turning point for flight simulation. Asobo has thus improved flight modeling and physics to take full advantage of the power of Microsoft and be realistic down to the smallest details.
“In 2010, I always say that the plane in the game was a box on which the flight physics operated. In 2010, we had 1000 points on the surface to make plans. Today, we have 10,000 on the fuselage of the plane on which the small turbulences, the movements of the air will act”, specifies Jörg Neumann. This time it will be possible to deal with breakdowns, a device which is deteriorating, but which can be optimized.
Also the realism of the world with terrain 4000 times more detailed for players who like to land among the trees, in the bushes, near monuments. This is one of the new technical features of the game which focused on the faithful reproduction of the surface of the soil to perceive their roughness, an area that is too smooth or too steep, sandy, the surface of the water less “rigid”. “…which will have an impact on takeoff and landing. Natural elements are also accentuated (tornado, northern lights, bird migrations, etc.), as are those in real time (land, air or sea traffic).
Each region will have a real biome (36 in total), with its fauna and flora. The animals will be present, the cities will also be more alive with the arrival of humans in the game. “We scanned nearly 500 faces to make it authentic, gave them local clothing, added seasons and made it accordingly. for the beings we see”, summarizes Jörg Neumann. And players will even be able to leave their device to explore landscapes, points of interest or airports on foot.
The game will not be gargantuan however, even if Flight Sim 2020with its more than 30 extensions, had taken up a little (a lot) of space on PCs and consoles over time. “That’s one of the reasons why we did Flight Sim 2024. The previous architecture could not work otherwise we were going to have 2 TB of data”, he smiles. Now, a good part of the data is streamed and can also be more easily updated. The base is there (the floors, the planes , airports, etc. – 30 GB only) and the game, per game, is sent locally, not requiring a high connection (10 Mb/s is enough). It is still possible to download portions of the game to play offline.
Play rescuers, pilots or transporters
Flight Simulator 2024 arrives this November 19 with the desire to see bigger and broader. The teams have added a career mode with missions depending on the chosen profession (rescuer, pilot, transporter, firefighting, etc.), even more devices from yesterday to today, to also preserve the heritage of the history of aviation. You will also be able to compete much more easily against other drivers.
Microsoft and Asobo claim to have made a game even closer to reality, also in terms of learning and the art of piloting. “It’s a platform from which we have built a world, with pilots, flights, living things now. A life simulation. We are going to enrich it so that everyone can benefit from it,” he concludes. , adding that collaboration and multiplayer are other ideas they're tweaking.
Don't worry if you've never taken orders. The game has retained its desire to be accessible to as many people as possible with even more flight school-style tutorials to gently introduce you and advise you. And this, whatever your cognitive abilities. And favorite content from the previous game should be compatible with the 2024 version, including content generated by communities and players. On the other hand, the backups will not continue the journey.
Related News :