Posted on 01/20/2024 11:03:07 AM PST by fireman15
Long story short, then, we love Flight Simulator. There’s just one problem, though, and it’s a fairly big one. What happens when you run out of ideas?
As a sandbox, the game is great. Choose where to start, choose where to end, and enjoy the flight. But not everybody is comfortable with setting their own parameters like that in a game. Some people play games for the satisfaction of completing challenges set for them. In other words, some players like being told what to do and seeing if they can successfully do it.
The 2020 release has some of this – there are around 50 Landing Challenges where you’re placed in front of a runway and have to land in difficult circumstances. Then there were the Reno Air Races and Top Gun Maverick DLC, which added racing and fighter jet missions to a game that previously didn’t have any.
Some players – including us – are looking for something a little more, however, and from what we’ve seen, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 looks set to provide exactly that. Rather than a major update to the existing game, Flight Sim 2024 is an entirely new sequel, and this time it plans to give us a purpose for playing.
Specifically, Microsoft says the next game will focus on “career aviation”. While it’ll still be possible to pick any plane you like and fly anywhere you like, the 2024 edition will also add a bunch of new careers that go beyond simply ‘pilot’ – careers that will have clear win and lose conditions.
(Excerpt) Read more at videogameschronicle.com ...
The first true Flight Simulator that I "flew" was on an Apple 2 computer at a friends house long ago. This program evolved and became available for other platforms. Microsoft eventually purchased it and began developing the program. Four years ago, Microsoft released the 2020 version which is quite amazing.
I have other flight simulators as well, most notably several versions of X-plane which are also very good and have their own advantages.
Why does someone who lives on an airport, owns two airplanes and four hang gliders and has had his private pilot's license for over 30 years even fart around with flight simulators? Even licensed pilots find these things fun and they are very good learning tools especially for IFR. Even radios both Nav and Com, GPS units, and other avionics are simulated, so you can learn how to use them before you even see the real thing.
Also definitely go through the included "flight schools". I even bought an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) course to work through and practice with.
A couple flight simulator tips from someone who has some experience... they go on sale at Steam.com and the Microsoft Store a couple times a year for around 40% off. If you buy a Flight Simulator on Steam most of them including Microsoft's can be used with Linux. X-plane 12 has a version already setup for Linux.
After spending $10 to $120 on the program you are still going to have to spend at least $30 to $80 for a decent joystick. I can recommend the Thrustmaster series which starts at around $40 not on sale. The joystick portion rotates so that you can control the rudder. The name brand joysticks that have been around for a long time are recognized by the programs and have profiles automatically set up. It is essential that the joystick has a "hat switch" so you can easily change your point of view to look out the side windows to help you see the airport you are flying a landing pattern at.
I of course have control yokes and rudder pedals, but I typically do not bother to use them. They are pretty expensive and you really do not need them.
Right now is one of the best times ever to get a young person interested in flying for a profession. A familiarity with a flight simulator or two will give them a big step up when it comes to learning to fly the real thing.
I still play EF-2000 in dosbox. At least once a week or so.
I love that flight sim is now available via Xbox Cloud gaming. It means Mac people like myself can play without a windows setup.
I bought X-plane 12 through Steam a couple of weeks ago because I wanted something I could play natively on a Mac. So far I like the airplane dynamics and weather but the scenery imo falls short of MSFS. I heard Ortho4XP is good. Will give that a try.
This flight simulator will give the players a real challenge. This game will realistically simulate flying an airplane designed by a DEI engineering team.
Grand Theft Aircraft 2024. Like Grand Theft Auto except you land at Davis for your drugs and hookers.
A door blows off but you’re over the Red Sea. Do you drop to <10,000 ft?
Davis -> Davos. I hate Otto Korrekt.
The “New Delta Hire” mode requires you to fly the aircraft blindfolded with your nose.
I have MSFS but rarely play it. DCS is my preferred Sim. It already has a purpose and that’s to BRRRRRRT the A-10C 30mm gun.
the videos for flight simulator are really cool- always wanted to try it- but not sure my tired brain can keep up with all the dials and knobs abd instructions-
i usded to play battlefield online and woudl ‘fly’ the A-10 thunderbolt i think it was called? aircraft with rapid fire gun- and it was pretty cool watching and hearing what it could do- “Flying’ in the game wasn’t hard at all- nothing like real life- but it was fun as all get out
That is the primary advantage that MSFS has over X-plane. I have a plane that is very similar to ours on MSFS but the one that I purchased for X-plane is the exact same model of aircraft. It handles a little more realistically as well.
You can buy scenery packs for X-plane. If you go on the X-plane forums they have both free and paid scenery available.
They have AI assistance to handle tasks you don't want to bother handling. Also, there is “active pause” that you can engage to mess with the things that you do not want to do in real time.
But I can't speak to that very much because the planes that I typically fly are very similar to the one that we own and I am already familiar with nearly everything.
Ono of the primary uses of both FAA approved simulators that airlines use and these PC based simulators is to practice emergency procedures, and bad weather.
Yep, my first computer game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvvfJ60gIf0
What I need before trying to do more flying is an adapter for my old F-22 Pro beyond analog to USB that also includes old keyboard input to grab the other hats and buttons and turn them into either extra joystick buttons or, like the original, into mappable keyboard buttons/macros.
“If you buy a Flight Simulator on Steam most of them including Microsoft’s can be used with Linux.”
It seems to be dependent on the distro. Mint and Debian users seem to have the best experiences. I have not been able to get any of the MS flight simulators to work on SUSE even after trying various ProtonDB versions and different installation methods for Steam itself.
What distro do you use? And for the “joystick” I really like the Thrustmaster T.16000M HOTAS (mainly used for helicopters and gliders on Windows).
I was involved with using Flight Simulator back in about 1994 in the context of an SBIR for which a Navy Commander (?) was the Principal Investigator. That was done at the University of Central Florida.
Several users for the main scenario being tested were actual, carrier-based CH-52 helicopter pilots. About a year or two after the SBIR was completed, one of of the Navy pilots encountered a real-life scenario that was nearly identical to the constructed scenario that he’d experienced in that FSim SBIR. He credited the FSim SBIR scenario and the Navy Commander’s design of it as helping him save the CH-52 in the dicey real-life mission off a carrier where he was the pilot.
The SBIR was determined to be a raving success, even with a much earlier version of FSim than FSim 2020 or -2024.
(FWIW, I was the designer of the first version of FSim’s Flight Lessons. I’ve been a flight instructor for 35 years.)
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