Microsoft Flight Simulator X
| Microsoft Flight Simulator X | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Microsoft Game Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft |
| Series | Microsoft Flight Simulator |
| Platform(s) | PC (Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista) |
| Release | October 10, 2006 (S Am) October 13, 2006 (Europe) October 17, 2006 (N Am) October 26, 2006 (Australia) |
| Genre(s) | Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single player,T-REX multiplayer |
Microsoft Flight Simulator X (known in the Flight Simulator community also as simply FSX, of which the X is pronounced ten, as in the Roman numeral) is the latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator after Flight Simulator 2004. It includes a graphics engine upgrade as well as compatibility with Windows Vista, having been hailed by Microsoft as the most important technological milestone in the series to date. It is the first version in the flight simulator series to be released on DVD-ROM.
Introduction
Flight Simulator X marks the tenth version of the popular line of simulators. It was officially released to the US market on October 17, 2006. According to Microsoft's Web site for the game, a standard edition (USD $49.99) features everything from navaids to GPS and airways. It also includes 18 planes, 28 detailed cities, and 40 highly detailed airports. The deluxe version (USD $69.99) features 24 types of aircraft, 38 highly detailed cities, and 45 highly detailed airports.
Flight Simulator X was officially unveiled at the 2006 international Consumer Electronics Show as a gaming showcase for Microsoft Windows Vista. Microsoft released screenshots as well as a list of frequently asked questions as a press release on Microsoft Flight Simulator Insider, as well as numerous flight simulator communities (see External links). This also included mission-based gameplay with mission specific aircraft as well as an upgraded rendering engine capable of increased detail.
Following the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May 2006, Microsoft published new screenshots, videos and an official trailer. The overall reaction by the community was quite positive[citation needed], and the graphical quality of the simulator has greatly increased.
Features
Standard vs. Deluxe Edition
Flight Simulator X was released in two editions, Standard and Deluxe. Deluxe edition incorporates some additional features, including an on-disc Software Development Kit (SDK), three airplanes with the Garmin G1000 Flight Deck, and player Air Traffic Control.[1]
In addition, the Deluxe Edition features 24 aircraft compared to 18 in the Standard Edition, 45 high-detail airports compared to 40, 38 high-detail cities compared to 28, and 50+ structured missions compared to 30+.[2]
New features
The presently known new features in Flight Simulator X include:
- Improved graphics including enhanced texture resolution, new Earth model facilitating polar flights, true road data, region-specific textures, 3D animals, star constellations, etc. Also, the scenery textures now line up with the automatically generated (Autogen) buildings. Maximum rendering-engine-supported scenery resolution of 7cm/pixel (not available with default scenery).
- Improved default airport functionality — appropriate dynamic vehicles, jetways etc. Now featured by default where they exist in reality.
- The built-in GPS support has been upgraded to include Garmin G1000 integrated glass cockpit, (select aircraft in the Deluxe version only).
- Improved ATC featuring certain non-FAA procedures where appropriate (for example, altimeter/QNH scale in European units) and numerous minor updates such as an improved progressive-taxi feature.
- Improved and new default aircraft including, for example, an Airbus A321. Default aircraft systems modeling is rather extensively improved, featuring, for example, APU, fire protection, passenger advisory sign switches etc.
- Improved weather system, including better visibility modeling.
- Revamped multiplayer functionality featuring Shared Skies, a feature allowing multiple users to share the same cockpit.
- Tower Controller, a feature in the Deluxe version allowing users to simulate local control at many airports worldwide during multiplayer gaming.
- Revamped sound system with support for 5.1 surround sound.
- Proprietary SimConnectAPI to allow FSUIPC-like access to Flight Simulator functions and variables.[3]
- Mission engine allowing creation of dynamic missions with developer control of many simulation variables, sound file playback, AI aircraft traffic etc. in relation to what the user is doing — essentially an evolution over the APL and ABL adventure programming languages featured in previous versions of the software. Dozens of missions ship with the product, and a mission level editor is expected to be released on-line shortly after release of the main product.
- Most of the vintage aircraft that were a key theme in the previous version have been dropped, with the exception of the DC-3 and Piper J-3. Both aircraft are featured in the default missions that ship with the product.
- The maximum altitude in the game has been increased to Template:Ft to m, as opposed to FS2004's Template:Ft to m. FSX's maximum altitude is therefore approximately 2.39 times the diameter of the Earth at the equator.
- Camera shake in the virtual cockpit as the aircraft banks, accelerates, brakes, flies through turbulence etc.
- Realistic flexible wings in some commercial airplanes, the wings flex when the aircraft is going through turbulence, increase rate of ascent or descent, major plane movements, flaps being fully extended, general vibrations to the plane, etc. An example of an aircraft with this wing movement is the Boeing 747-400.
- New water effect which has 3D waves with curled up object reflection according to the wave movements and with sunshine reflection.
- Aircraft can cast shadows on themselves.
- Red Bull Air Race World Series racing[4]
Aircraft
In some missions, extra AI aircraft are included but aren't really included in Free Flight. These aircraft include:
- TBM Avenger ghost planes of Flight 19 - from Lost in the Triangle
- Boeing 787-9 - from Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
- Ekranoplan - from Aleutian Cargo Run & Tokyo Executive Transport
- Airbus A380-800 - from Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
- Boeing 747-8 - from Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
- Antonov AN-225 - from Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
- Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde - from Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
- Two variations of UFOs - flying saucer and black triangular UFO on skids - both from Secret Shuttle
- Parked space shuttle - in Free Flight at Edwards Air Force Base
- Variations of military jets and helicopters - different types from Tutorial 1: First Take-off, Tutorial 11: Helicopter Maneuvers 1, Flour Power, Loopy Larry, Jet Truck Drag Race, Civil Air Patrol Search, Africa Relief and Catalina Day Spa
- Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird - from Tutorial 1: First Take-off
- Boeing B-52H Stratofortress - from Tutorial 1: First Take-off
Missions and rewards
The inclusion of Missions adds a new facet to the simulation, adding task oriented goals, and encouraging users to fly worldwide, rather than just from their home field. Although a similar concept was available in previous versions, the new implementation of multipath & event oriented situations substantially extends the potential for user interaction.
Pilots earn Rewards for completing various missions, and reaching specific accomplishments throughout the game, (in 'Free Flight'). Some of the rewards exist as hidden "easter eggs" to be discovered by pilots.[7] Some missions have multiple and hidden rewards, receipt being dependent on performing additional actions.
Some hidden rewards include:
- Earning a postcard for spotting an item of interest.
- Earning a badge for landing at a special airport i.e., highest, most remote, lowest.
- Earning a reward for completing a challenge not associated with a mission.
- Earning a trophy for landing a number of times or the number of airports landed at.
In each mission description, a map is included with it. It notes that they are for entertainment purposes. The maps and charts are supplied from Jeppesen.com.
Missions list
This is a list of all missions in Flight Simulator X (both Standard and Deluxe Edition).
Demo versions
Flight Simulator X is notable for being the first product in Microsoft's Flight Simulator series to have a game demo, which contains a subset of features of the retail product and requires Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista for installation.
The first limited demo of Flight Simulator X was released to the public on August 9, 2006, and put up for download on the official website. Even though playable, the August demo represented a beta release of the product, and had a number of bugs, some of which were recognized in the official installation's README file. On October 2, 2006 the demo was superseded by a newer release, which, while having fewer bugs[citation needed], is almost identical to the first demo. The DHC-2 Beaver was removed in favor of a Learjet 45. Both the demos feature St. Martin, Netherlands Antilles and the surrounding area only (as opposed to the entire world), including the Princess Juliana International Airport. There are four playable aircraft (Bombardier CRJ-700, Beechcraft 58, DHC-2 Beaver/Learjet 45 and an ultralight aircraft), and three missions, one of which is actually an introductory tutorial.
System requirements
Microsoft Flight Simulator X comes on 2 DVDs and requires approximately 14 gigabytes of hard drive space to install. Although official minimum system requirements call for a 1.0 GHz CPU, 256 MB RAM and a 32 MB DirectX 9 compatible video card, much more powerful hardware is needed to achieve good performance with visual settings increased beyond the lowest values. With anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering either disabled or reduced, low-end and even some high end graphics cards, such as NVIDIA's 7300 GT and ATI's X800 will perform respectably at relatively low resolutions (ie. 1024x768), even with all other visual options maximized.[8]
Patches and expansions
Service Pack 1
Microsoft released Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Flight Simulator X on May 15, 2007. It addresses these post-release customer concerns:
- Activation and installation issues
- Performance enhancements
- Third-party add-on issues
- Content issues
(See the official download site, including localized versions)
Service Pack 2 – FSX-SP2 (DX10)
Microsoft will be releasing another service for Flight Simulator X about the same time as its expansion pack (below). The update is primarily for users that have DirectX 10 (DX10) compatible graphics adapters. The DX10 version will take advantage of DX10's better shader model and more pixel piplelines and increased overall performance. Also FSX-SP2 will fix some more bugs over Flight Simulator X.
(See the official Microsoft Flight Simulator site, including localized versions)
Flight Simulator X: Acceleration
Template:Infobox VG Hidden Microsoft will be releasing their first expansion pack for Flight Simulator in years, called Flight Simulator X: Acceleration, on Oct 23,2007 rated E+10.[9]Acceleration will introduce new features, including multiplayer air racing, new missions, and three all-new aircraft, including the F/A-18A Hornet, EH-101 helicopter and the P-51 Mustang.
Flight Simulator X: Acceleration will take advantage of Windows Vista.
Downloadable content
There are many downloads that both versions of Flight Simulator X can use, ranging from free aircraft and paint jobs to commercial, high-resolution scenery. They may change many aspects of the simulator, such as adjusting the visuals, gameplay, adding new features or content such as scenery objects and modifications. Numerous free downloads are available from community websites and the downloads include, but are not limited to:
- Civil jets
- Prop planes
- Vintage planes
- Ultralights and gliders
- Military aircraft
- New paint jobs for default aircraft
- Concept (proposed future) aircraft
- Add-on scenery
- Miscellaneous items
See also
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- History of Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Flight simulator
- Computer simulation
- List of Games for Windows titles
References
- ^ "AirSideTV's Video Coverage of AirVenture 2006". AirSideTV. July 28 2006.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Flight Simulator X – Product Information
- ^ "Aeroclub Simuvuelo's Coverage of FSX". Simuvuelo. July 24 2006.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Bray, Jim (2006-12-18). "Microsoft Flight Simulator X". Canada Free Press. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
For example, you can take part in the Red Bull air race...
- ^ Simviation.com Downloads - FSX Props pg. 2
- ^ Simviation.com Downloads – FSX Jets pg. 15
- ^ "Easter Eggs in FSX?". P-12C Pilot. October 18 2006.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ [1]
- ^ [2]