Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC, Xbox, Game Pass)

I'm going to go straight for Area 51 and say "hello!" to the Aliens.

Looking forward to giving this a go tomorrow via Gamepass, though I think this is the first time I can recall Gamepass Ultimate not actually getting you the full-fat version of the game, which is a bit gooseberry fool.

I was also disappointed to hear there’s only like 20 or 30 airports actually recreated in it. The details of the rest are sort of “guessed at” from satellite scans, which should lead to some wild variations in accuracy. And watching some high res footage, countrysides and coastlines can look decidedly low res and, well, like flying over JPEGs pulled straight from Google Earth. There’s probably a bit of magic at play from seeing a rough facsimile of an area you know (Google Earth VR made me feel a real sense of presence in the street I grew up in even though it was just a much of colourless smushed cubes. The accuracy of the scale and layout did some real heavy lifting), but I’m a little worried it might be a bit “GT5” in that there are pockets of breathtaking detail but the actual quality of the package is all over the place because the scope is too wide.

So it starts downloading the bulk of the data once you run the game. 91.36Gb according to mine.

Gonna leave it running overnight and play it once I finish work tomorrow I think.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:So it starts downloading the bulk of the data once you run the game. 91.36Gb according to mine.

Gonna leave it running overnight and play it once I finish work tomorrow I think.

The way it’s downloading every file and decompressing/licensing each one separately is maddening. It’s coming down at about 100MB/s when it’s actually downloading something but for the most part it’s just processing each small file, so In real speed it’s about a gigabyte a minute. :dread:

Did a quick flight between my two closest airports. Keyboard and mouse controls are impossible and should be avoided. I flew over my house and was able to identify it, but the buildings themselves are just colourless cubes mostly.

A jaunt to the Marketplace shows individual airports for sale, and they aren’t cheap. I think Leeds was in there for £15-20.

I couldn’t find a way to change the time of day so my flight was in pitch darkness. Looking forward to trying more tomorrow when I can actually see what’s going on, and can use my flight stick to avoid crashing at least

It seems like getting this out on Series X at launch would be a massive win for Microsoft (considering it's on Game Pass). I wonder why they are not pushing that potential? Is it that the console gamer market is not considered patient enough to be excited for a flight sim? Is that why things like Euro Truck Simulator has never made it over from PC? It would certainly help me make my next gen console decision.

jiggles wrote:Looking forward to giving this a go tomorrow via Gamepass, though I think this is the first time I can recall Gamepass Ultimate not actually getting you the full-fat version of the game, which is a bit gooseberry fool.

Minecraft Dungeons is the other recent example. I expect the extra content will come eventually, probably to pad out the 'perks' they're trying to claim as extra value.

Gears 5 was the only game where you got the full-fat version with Game Pass Ultimate at launch. State of Decay 2 got stuff later.

Ah, that’s what was throwing me, because that was the thing that got me to upgrade to Ultimate in the first place over regular PC GamePass.

That actually changes my perception of the service significantly. I thought it was the same offering you’d see on Origin Premier or uPlay+ where you not only get all that publishers games day 1, but the “Ultimate” edition each time, and any future expansions/seasons/battle passes are all included too.

I think EA’s service might actually be the best one now, given you get that *and* titles from other publishers. My GP Ultimate and Origin Premier are both due to lapse at the end of the month and I was going to drop Origin due to the cost of both and amount of titles common to both, but now I’m sure I’ll downgrade GP to PC only and resub on Origin.

Planes

I love that they have mapped the entire planet in this game. Whilst no doubt there are countless improvements that can be made (inevitable when AI maps a planet), what an amazing baseline that is to have. I can see this technology being used on other games in future too. The more detailed the map is, the easier starting point you have. For a game like GTA, where no doubt huge development time and resource is spent recreating a city, to have a starting point like this could really speed up development. Very impressive. I think I have a Flight Stick somewhere, but I've never used it. Shame this is so expensive, may pick it up down the line if it drops in price.

I have been watching videos of this all day. It looks so relaxing. I cant help but think VR is the final piece in the puzzle when it comes to putting immersion through the roof. Alas i think it unlikely i will be able to link my Quest to the Series X.

vr or an ultra-wide monitor and trackIR

I've got all the gear to run it in VR, but I can't see it running at anywhere near acceptable frame rates on anything but the highest spec system you could buy. I've played a few other flight sims in VR and they're incredibly relaxing to just zoom around, so this liking the way it does would be so good.

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:I have been watching videos of this all day. It looks so relaxing. I cant help but think VR is the final piece in the puzzle when it comes to putting immersion through the roof. Alas i think it unlikely i will be able to link my Quest to the Series X.

Nah man, the key to immersion is building a full cockpit in your gaming room.

Would love to simulate aircraft disasters like Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 or Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Christ

Dual wrote:Would love to simulate aircraft disasters like Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 or Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Install it but to a random folder

jiggles wrote:
Cheeky Devlin wrote:So it starts downloading the bulk of the data once you run the game. 91.36Gb according to mine.

Gonna leave it running overnight and play it once I finish work tomorrow I think.

The way it’s downloading every file and decompressing/licensing each one separately is maddening. It’s coming down at about 100MB/s when it’s actually downloading something but for the most part it’s just processing each small file, so In real speed it’s about a gigabyte a minute.

It's very reminiscent of installing a game in the early 2000s, which I suppose fits in with the last time I'd have played Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Hope to get to play for five minutes tonight. :dread:

Somebody Else's Problem wrote:
kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:I have been watching videos of this all day. It looks so relaxing. I cant help but think VR is the final piece in the puzzle when it comes to putting immersion through the roof. Alas i think it unlikely i will be able to link my Quest to the Series X.

Nah man, the key to immersion is building a full cockpit in your gaming room.

twitter.com/DaftLimmy/status/1295772257458020353

This will not end well.

Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC, Xbox, Game Pass)

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