
MS Flight Simulator vs. Real Life - tosh
https://m.imgur.com/a/hdWw4ds
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butz
All game data will be streamed on demand from the cloud. On one side it is
neat, that only required data for the moment will be downloaded, but on the
other hand, the game will require constant internet connection, and in the
future, when servers will be finally turned off, it simply won't work.

~~~
gdrulia
Well that is simply not true. It will work, you'll have lower resolution and
detailed map, but sim will certainly work.

-edit: should have refreshed before commenting :)

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Wowfunhappy
Why isn't there an option to download the assets? How much space are we
talking about here?

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frooxie
Two petabytes, according to PC Gamer.

~~~
Wowfunhappy
...Oh. Okay then. I guess that makes sense.

Still would be nice for them to have a ~300 GB download option with a
resolution somewhere in between the standard offline mode and full quality,
but they're clearly operating at an inordinate scale here...

~~~
cHaOs667
The game already has an base installation size of 150GB and contains an
offline mode that reduces the level of detail.

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feifan
I've long wished someone would do this for racing games too. An open-world
street racing game powered by real-world environments/maps would be wonderful
:)

~~~
JNRowe
For an unrelated product demo some years ago I modded Orbital Eunuchs Sniper¹
to play on the environment outside the site we were demoing in using a few
images from Google Maps. The split on whether it was fun or utterly wrong was
probably 90/10, but I'm sure it would've been a different story with a tabloid
paper reporting on it.

Now imagine you're publishing a game where drifting on roundabouts outside
real elementary schools is a mini-game. Probably good for publicity though,
_iff_ you're willing to take the heat :/

1\. [http://www.icculus.org/oes/](http://www.icculus.org/oes/) \- Still an
awesome game

~~~
feifan
I mean, it's not like there needs to actually be kids in the game :P

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flak48
The new sim looks simply spectacular.

12 years ago I built my first new PC just to play Crysis, with money that I
had saved up over some time. Fast forward to today, I just have a Macbook Pro
from work, as I almost stopped gaming entirely.

As an erstwhile FSX addict think it's time for me to build a new rig again
just for MS Flight & hopefully one that works well with an Oculus (Quest) too!

~~~
chasely
I've been waiting for the next flight sim or Elder Scrolls game to build a new
rig. Crazy to think that it's almost surely going to be Flight Simulator that
comes first.

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albertzeyer
It looks great. But in all cases, it's still pretty simple to distinguish the
game from the real photo. And that is because the game looks just too perfect.
E.g. the wave patterns on the water just are too uniform. But this is sth
which might not be too difficult to make more random, right? E.g. use sth like
Perlin noise.

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alkonaut
This, the new AMD CPUs, nVidia 3000 series, Alyx, and the new generation of
consoles (which means a large number of new games the coming year) means the
stars are aligning for a new gaming rig again this year.

~~~
lostmsu
What is special about 3000 series? Any good links?

~~~
alkonaut
Nothing revolutionary is expected but I think it's a new process so should
have more power headroom. A new generation always drives down the prices of
the last generation at least.

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jerkstate
I legitimately could not figure out which one was real for several of these
shots. Well done to the FS team and all related teams (my understanding is
this game brings together a lot of tech). Couldn't be more excited to try this
out.

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ken
It's great, but it's certainly not indistinguishable. The water and clouds are
a dead giveaway.

Also, except for the yellow/black silhouettes, the graphics have lower
contrast than the photographs, which makes me wonder if it would be even more
obvious if they increased the contrast to match. At first glance, it seems
like they're using washed-out colors to hide something.

~~~
ygra
The photos may have been edited for more contrast as well. The ingame images
don't look unreal, actually; haze does reduce contrast and not every day is an
opportunity to get a crystal-clear magazine-quality photo everywhere.

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Erwin
Give Google Earth VR a try, on a recent headset. Where Google has captured
data by flying over the terrain in aircraft, the effect is astonishing. It's
as if Google swept a giant LIDAR over everything, mapping every nook and
cranny.

I hope a VR mode will be available for FS2020 (I tried to check the latest
situation on Google, who helpfully showed me an ad for a PHYSICAL hands-on
hysteroscopy simulator!)

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GekkePrutser
I can't wait for this one!!! Especially now with the current lockdown :(
X-Plane 11 doesn't quite cut it.

However it will have to support VR otherwise it's a non-starter.

~~~
bstar77
The devs said they will support VR, just not initially.

~~~
GekkePrutser
Oh that's too bad... I suppose this has to do with their console focus
(considering the Xbox doesn't do VR).

Otherwise, I don't understand why anyone would make a simulator now without
VR. It makes the difference between day and night.

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newacct8086
Should I get X-Plane now or wait for this?

Checking out flight sims is on my bucket list, but not urgent. Can anyone who
knows better comment on this? Yes, I can try the trial X-Plane. But I'm lazy.

To give a sense of what I'm looking for: I tried X-plane on Android TV. The
controls were extremely realistic. And by that I mean I never managed to land
without crashing. :) I was ok with that.

~~~
agildehaus
All indicators point to MSFS2020 blowing X-Plane out of the water in every
metric.

~~~
polishdude20
As far as graphics go yes. But xplane has some great mods and a well
established community. For example, you can download a free 737 that has a
fully working FMC with all the buttons in the cockpit working. This was made
by a community member. It's the gold standard 737 people download and use.

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StavrosK
Looks like it's time to get the old HOTAS out.

When is this coming out?

~~~
butz
Game is set to be released in 2020, but as with all game release dates it
might change.

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ntsplnkv2
Is there a key saying which is real and which is simulator?

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snazz
Second photos are real.

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tekknolagi
Where is that picture of the striped land from?

~~~
yread
It looks a bit like inverted lake in the Netherlands (man-made by mining peat)

[https://www.aerophotostock.com/media/30b15e9e-a9d3-11e3-ab9d...](https://www.aerophotostock.com/media/30b15e9e-a9d3-11e3-ab9d-f2b86e40979d-vinkeveen-
nederland-14-juli-2006-de-vinkeveense-plassen-zijn?download=comp&commit=Lo-
res+beeld)

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kuu
Is this from the new version? It looks amazing!

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genericacct
This will probably be the best reason to buy an xbox soon.

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ygra
Doesn't it run on Windows as well?

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butz
Windows 10 is listed as supported platform.

~~~
tpmx
Along with Xbox:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_(20...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_\(2020_video_game\))

Edit: I have this feeling that Microsoft's marketing normally oversells their
games. In this case the game has been developed by an outside team:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asobo_Studio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asobo_Studio)

Said team "only" has 140 employees, and they've been busy with releasing other
major games every year so far.

I'd be cautious.

Edit: Revenue per employee is 50k EUR per employee. That is kinda low. To be
fair, I compared 2014 revenue numbers with 2018 employee count numbers.

