Microsoft Flight

Microsoft Flight
Logo for Microsoft Flight as seen on the website
Developer(s)	Microsoft Studios
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Studios
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	TBA
Genre(s)	Flight simulator

Microsoft Flight is the title of a new flight simulator from Microsoft Studios announced in August 2010, intended to replace the long-running discontinued Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise that has existed for nearly 30 years. In January 2011, Microsoft announced it would be compatible with Windows Vista, Windows Server and Windows 7.^{[citation needed]}

Development

The simulator is in its early development stages, with an alpha version nearly ready for internal testing, according to Kevin Unangst, a senior director in Microsoft's game unit. Limited details have been released on Flight, but it has been said that it is looking to appeal to flying enthusiasts with the realism and accuracy shown in the previous titles of Microsoft Flight Simulator, but also will include other types of gameplay that appeal more to novices.^[1] The new simulator will be Games for Windows – Live-enabled, which will allow users with Live accounts to join multiplayer sessions with Gamertags. The introduction of Live also means that the GameSpy client will no longer be in use.^[2] Additionally, Microsoft plans to include an add-on marketplace to make it easier for users to find the add-on they are looking for.

An official website by Microsoft has been published featuring video trailers and Webisodes, a frequently asked questions page, and a sign-up link for the Microsoft Flight newsletter, although no beta info or release date was given. It also includes a page featuring screenshots taken in Flight. (52 screenshots to date) As of October 2011, four teaser videos have been published to the website, each one exhibiting varying levels of developmental progress as they were published over time. Videos before Webisode 2 do not feature in-game footage.^[2]

Upgrades

As seen in screenshots and videos from Flight, the most noticeable graphical improvements over Microsoft's previous flight simulator release (Microsoft Flight Simulator X) at this point are newer shader models and the use of new DirectX versions. Sources close to the Microsoft Flight development team have rumored that it will be DirectX 11, although there may be a backward compatibility mode so the simulator will run in DirectX 9. If there is this compatibility mode, the graphics will be slightly inferior to the offered by DirectX 11. Microsoft Flight will also feature upgraded geometry shadowing system, which sports more realistic light bloom effects, higher-quality aircraft shadowing, as well as the ability of land features to cast shadows upon themselves in addition to static and dynamic player and scenery objects. Final hardware requirements have not been published, however general specifications were released. Microsoft Flight also has a new weather engine, which creates more realistic clouds and weather effect. The new weather engine also removes the 'jagged' lines where the weather and terrain meet.

System requirements

Tentative system requirements as posted in November update from the development team:

Minimum:
•CPU: Dual Core 2.0 GHz
•GPU: 256 MB card capable of shader 3.0 (DX 9.0c compliant)
•HD: 10 GB Hard Drive space
•OS: WinXP SP3
•RAM: 2.0GB

Recommended (High Settings):
•CPU: Intel® Core™ i7 960 @ 3.20GHz, AMD® Phenom™ II X6 1100T 3.3 GHz or better
•GPU: ATI Radeon™ HD 5870, NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560 or better
•HD: 10 GB Hard Drive space
•OS: Windows 7 64-bit
•RAM: 6GB

Aircraft

All the aircraft to be included are not yet known, but based on the videos and screenshots, it can be concluded that the Boeing PT-17, Maule M-7, and Van's RV-6 will be included.

References

1. ^ Ina Fried (18 August 2010). "Microsoft makes a return to Flight". CNET News. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20013915-56.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Microsoft Flight FAQ". http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/#faq. Retrieved 13 October 2011. 

External links

• Microsoft Flight – Official Site