Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020: A Once-in-a-Generation Technological Marvel

[Debater Slayer]

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is a once-in-a-generation technological marvel that bridges the gap between cloud computing, satellite navigation, and video games:

Head away from the cities and you might discover some of the world's great mountain ranges where air currents whip up the slopes, or maybe head to the ocean and witness waves foaming against tropical islands, where water's behaviour is subject to the weather and the wind. Head even further down to the ground and the grass sways to the same forces, while casting the gentlest green glow upon the underside of your plane. Microsoft Flight Simulator can be as beautiful as the earth itself.

Which might be because Microsoft Flight Simulator's aim is to provide as faithful a recreation of the earth itself as possible. You've likely seen the numbers, and impressive they are: there are some 37,000 airports, an entire world it'd take some 14 years to see from the seat of a Cessna and one that contains some two whole petabytes of data, all told. Not that you'll have to store all that yourself, of course, with Flight Simulator's world delivered via streaming technology (it will be perfectly possible to play offline, with the procedural part of Asobo's magic doing the heavy lifting, though there won't be quite the same amount of detail as if you were playing with a connection).

A recreation of the entire Earth based on artificial intelligence and two petabytes (2,000 terabytes) of data, simulation of real-world flights and weather conditions in real time inside the game, and an unprecedented level of visual detail. This is the kind of game you can show to your non-gamer friends as an example of how amazing video games can be as a technological and artistic medium.

I recently finished downloading the game (which was a whopping 127 GB download), and I can say the graphical realism is indeed a generational leap for gaming. I was never interested in flight simulators until now thanks to this game.

 

[Quetzal]

One of my earliest pc gaming memories was with my grandad. I would watch him pilot the Cesna on an older version of MS Flight Sim. He would fly around a tower on the starter map (Chicago? I think?). It's a fond memory, thank you for bringing this topic up! I wish I had a pc that could run this.

 

[Nakosis]

I was curious about the crash physics/mechanics involved. How a crash is simulated.
Turns out if you crash the plane you just get a black screen telling you that you crashed.

I heard something about the airplane manufacturers not wanting images of their airplanes crashing into famous landmarks to be circulating.

 

[ChristineM]

Heard a story about an error in Melbourne that has a 3000 ft tower to avoid.

 

[Gambrinus]

Unfortunately I don't have means to run this program. If I did a goal I would have is to be able to fly through Star Wars Canyon without crashing.
AirshowStuff Visits Star Wars Canyon - Photos And Videos Of Low Level Flying!