Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Microsoft Flight Simulator X
Developer(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Version	Service Pack 2
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows XP SP2 · Windows Vista Windows 7
Release date(s)	October 10, 2006 (Mexico) October 13, 2006 (Europe) October 17, 2006 (U.S.) October 26, 2006 (Australia)
Genre(s)	Simulation
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer (online)
Rating(s)	ESRB: E OFLC: G PEGI: 3+
Media/distribution	DVD only (2)
System requirements 1.0 GHz CPU 256 MB RAM (for Windows XP SP2) or 512 MB RAM (for Windows Vista) 14 GB hard drive space (15 GB for Deluxe Version) DVD drive 32 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card 1024 x 720 screen resolution or higher[1]

Microsoft Flight Simulator X, also known as FSX, is the latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator after Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. It includes a graphics engine upgrade as well as compatibility with Windows Vista, having been marketed 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. It is also the first version in the series to feature a new type of electronic distribution prevention using license keys, removing the need for the user to insert the game disc into their computer in order to run the software.

Overview

Flight Simulator X marks the tenth version of the popular line of flight 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 features everything from navaids to GPS and airways. It also includes 18 planes, 28 detailed cities, and over 24,000 airports with a deluxe version featuring 24 aircraft, and 38 cities.

Flight Simulator X was officially unveiled at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) as a gaming showcase for Microsoft Windows Vista and is now also compatible with Windows 7. Microsoft released screenshots as well as a list of frequently asked questions as a press release on Microsoft Flight Simulator Insider,^[2] and numerous flight simulator communities. 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.

Successor

Main article: Microsoft Flight

On 22 January 2009, it was reported that development team behind the product was being heavily affected by Microsoft's ongoing job cuts, with indications that the entire Flight Simulator team would be laid off.^[3][4] The news was later confirmed by Microsoft officials stating they were committed to the Flight Simulator franchise, with expectations to continue product releases in the series, but had nothing specific to announce at that time.^[5] On 17 August 2010, Microsoft announced Microsoft Flight, a new simulation game that boasts a further improved graphics engine, and enhanced simulation features. ^[6]

Features

Standard vs. Deluxe Edition

A screenshot showing the Cessna 172 with G1000 cockpit flying in a multiplayer session. Note the Boeing 747 traffic and traffic readout on the right screen. FSX.

A United Airlines Boeing PMDG 747-400 departing from Miami

A screenshot of the FSX multiplayer radar crowded with airplanes.

Flight Simulator X was released in three editions: Standard, Deluxe, and later Gold. The Deluxe Edition incorporates additional features, including an on-disc software development kit (SDK), three airplanes with the Garmin G1000 Flightdeck, and the ability for the player to act as Air Traffic Control (ATC) for other online users with a radar screen.^{[7][dead link]}

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 51 structured missions compared to more than 30.^[8]

Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Gold Edition combines the Deluxe Edition and the Acceleration expansion pack into one.^[9]

New features

A screenshot demonstrating the high resolution terrain capacity of FSX. In this example, payware scenery is used.

The 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, minimal 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 7 cm/pixel (not available with default scenery).
• Airports now have jetways that move to the aircraft by the key combination Ctrl + J. (happens for AI aircraft automatically) Airport vehicles also drive around the airport to the player's aircraft and AI aircraft. (Baggage cars, pushtrucks, fuel trucks, etc.)
• 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 metric 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.
• In Flight Simulator X, the developers have decided to liven the game play, and along with Free Flight mode, introduced more than 50 different missions.^[10]
• Proprietary SimConnectAPI to allow FSUIPC-like access to Flight Simulator functions and variables.^[11]
• 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.
• 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 100,000,000 ft. Therefore, FSX maximum altitude is 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 while going through turbulence, increasing rate of ascent or descending, undergoing 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 refraction according to the wave movements and with sunshine reflection.
• Ability to easily take a screenshot while in the game. Pressing the "V" key takes a picture of the game and saves it as a .bmp image in the "My Pictures" folder.
• Aircraft can cast shadows on themselves.
• Aircraft interiors and exteriors use different files. This allows an advanced user to take one exterior model of an Airbus A320 and merge it with an interior made by someone else.
• Red Bull Air Race World Championship racing in the acceleration pack only.

Aircraft

A Bombardier CRJ700 landing at Ben Gurion International Airport with Tel Aviv in the background

Aircraft	Standard	Deluxe	Acceleration/Deluxe
Airbus A321	Yes	Yes	Yes
Air Creation 582-SL Trike Ultralight	Yes	Yes	Yes
AgustaWestland AW101	No	No	Yes
Beechcraft Baron 58	Yes	Yes	Yes
Beechcraft Baron 58 G1000	No	Yes	Yes
Beechcraft King Air 350	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bell 206B JetRanger	Yes	Yes	Yes
Boeing 737-800	Yes	Yes	Yes
Boeing 747-400	Yes	Yes	Yes
Boeing F/A-18 Hornet	No	No	Yes
Bombardier CRJ-700	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bombardier Learjet LJ-45	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cessna 208-B Grand Caravan	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cessna 172S SkyhawkSP	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP G1000	No	Yes	Yes
de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane	Yes	Yes	Yes
De Havilland Canada DHC-8	AI only	AI only	AI only
DG-808-S Competition Sailplane	Yes	Yes	Yes
Douglas DC-3	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extra EA-300-S	Yes	Yes	Yes
Grumman G-21-A Goose	No	Yes	Yes
McDonnell Douglas MD-83	AI only	AI only	AI only
Maule Orion M-7-260-C Super Rocket on skis	AI only	Yes	Yes
Maule Orion M-7-260-C Super Rocket	AI only	Yes	Yes
Mooney M-20-M Bravo	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mooney M-20-M Bravo G1000	No	Yes	Yes
North American P-51D Racer	No	No	Yes
Piper PA-28 Cherokee 180	AI only	AI only	AI only
Piper J-3C-65 Cub	Yes	Yes	Yes
Robinson R-22 Beta II	Yes	Yes	Yes

In a few missions, extra AI aircraft are included but aren't available to the player in Free Flight. These aircraft include:

• TBM Avenger ghost planes of Flight 19 - from Lost in the Triangle although it is tough to know that they are there
• 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 (in British Airways livery)
• Two variations of UFOs - a flying saucer is seen while flying and nearly crashes into you and two black triangular UFOs; one is seen landing at Area 51 just before the player lands and launches again while the player is taxiing, and a larger, similar one parked on skids - all from Secret Shuttle
• Two UFOs - a small UFO and a much larger UFO, that can be seen in the background - High Altitude Intercept (Acceleration)
• 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 and Secret Shuttle.
• Boeing B-52H Stratofortress - from Tutorial 1: First Take-off, Executive Tour and Loopy Larry
• V-22 Osprey from Tutorial 1: First Take-off and Executive Tour (Acceleration)
• F-117 Nighthawk from Tutorial 1: First Take-off and Executive Tour
• F-22 Raptor at Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Tutorial 1: First Takeoff and Secret Shuttle
• Su-37 Flanker at Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight. There are 2 on the flight line next to an F-22.
• A fictional NASA orbiter named "Delta V" in Rocket Launch Cover.
• Hughes XF-11 Reconnaissance Aircraft
• Douglas XB-19 Heavy Bomber
• Antonov An-32 Transport/Bomber
• BAe Jetstream 41 Regional airliner/Feederliner
• Messerschmitt Bf 109 Fighter
• Focke Wulf Fw 190 Fighter
• Antonov An-12 Military transport aircraft
• Messerschmitt Me 410 Multirole fighter-bomber/Reconnaissance Aircraft

Airlines

FSX ships with several, fictional airlines. The only real airline is Kenmore Air. The airlines are as follows.

Airline	Player Aircraft in Airlines Livery	AI Aircraft in Airlines Livery
Airwave	None - Callsign only.	De Havilland Canada DHC-8 and McDonnell Douglas MD-83
American Pacific	None - Callsign only.	De Havilland Canada DHC-8
Emerald Harbour Air	Douglas DC-3	None
Gaia	None - Callsign only.	None
Global Freightways	Boeing 747-400 and Cessna 208-B Grand Caravan	None
Kenmore Air	Cessna 208-B Grand Caravan and de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver - Callsign is not available.	Cessna 208-B Grand Caravan and de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
Landmark	None - Callsign only.	None
Orbit	Airbus A321, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 747-400 and Bombardier CRJ-700	Airbus A321, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 747-400, Bombardier CRJ-700 and De Havilland Canada DHC-8
Pacifica	Airbus A321, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 747-400 and Bombardier CRJ-700	Airbus A321, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 747-400, Bombardier CRJ-700 and McDonnell Douglas MD-83
Soar	None - Callsign only.	McDonnell Douglas MD-83
World Travel	Airbus A321, Boeing 737-800 (in alternative, cheatline livery), Boeing 747-400 and Douglas DC-3 (in heritage livery)	Airbus A321, Boeing 737-800 (in alternative, cheatline livery) and Boeing 747-400

Any player aircraft may be used with the callsign of any of these airlines.

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.^[12] 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, e.g., 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 by Jeppesen.

Missions list

This is a list of all missions in Flight Simulator X ( Standard, Deluxe Edition and Acceleration missions are included).

v · Edwards Air Force Base, California, United States	Air Creation 582-SL Trike Ultralight	Take-off from runway 15 - one of the world's longest runways - and fly through 3 gates before landing.
2.	Tutorial 2: Basics of Flight	Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong	Air Creation 582-SL Trike Ultralight	Fly through 5 gates.
3.	Tutorial 3: Finding Your Way	Vals-Lanas Airport, Aubenas, France	Air Creation 582-SL Trike Ultralight	Take-off, fly near 3 hot air balloons and land.
4.	Tutorial 4: Ground Operations	Eagle Creek Airport, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States	Air Creation 582-SL Trike Ultralight, Piper J-3C-65 Cub & Douglas DC-3	Taxi in the AirCreation Trike ultralight, Piper Cub, and then take-off in the DC-3.
5.	Tutorial 5: Approaching the Airport	Eagle Creek Airport, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States	Piper J-3C-65 Cub	Approach runway 3 in 1 kt winds.
6.	Tutorial 6: Introduction to Mountain Flying	South-western Idaho, United States	Cessna C-172-SP Skyhawk	Take-off from Bernard USFS Airport, fly through valleys and attempt a canyon turn before landing at Lower Loon Creek Airport.
7.	Tutorial 7: Introduction to Soaring	Minden-Tahoe Airport, Minden, Nevada, United States	DG-808-S Competition Sailplane	Fly in a glider and learn some tips about gliding.
8.	Tutorial 8: Transitioning to Jets	Scotland	Bombardier CRJ-700	Take-off from Edinburgh Airport in a jet and land at Glasgow International Airport.
9.	Tutorial 9: Helicopter Basics	Līhu'e, Hawaii	Robinson R-22 Beta II	Fly a helicopter over the island of Kaua'i.
10.	Tutorial 10: Helicopter Take-off and Landing	Līhu'e, Hawaii	Robinson R-22 Beta II	Take-off, fly through 5 gates and land on the helipad.
11.	Sitka Approach	Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport, Sitka, Alaska, United States	Cessna C-172-SP Skyhawk	Approach the airport at Sitka.
12.	Midwest Fly-in	Eagle Creek Airport, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States	Piper J-3C-65 Cub	Take-off from a farm runway and land at the fly-in at Eagle Creek Airport. You do not receive any rewards for competing the mission but you will receive rewards for barnstorming, dropping flour bombs, and also a spot landing at Eagle Creek Airport.
13.	Hawaiian Checkout	Hawaii	Mooney M-20-M Bravo G1000	Look at the scenery as you fly from Molokai Airport to Maui's Hana Airport.
14.	San Juan Island Run	North-western Washington, United States	de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane	Take passengers on a trip from Lake Union to Friday Harbour in the San Juan Islands.
15.	Flour Power	Princess Juliana International Airport, Sint Maarten, former Netherlands Antilles	Air Creation 582-SL Trike Ultralight, Bombardier Learjet LJ-45, Robinson R-22 Beta II & Beechcraft Baron 58	Hit targets with flour bombs.
16.	Telluride Landing	Telluride Regional Airport, Telluride, Colorado, United States	Bombardier Learjet LJ-45	Land at Telluride without slamming into the mountainous terrain.
17.	Rome-Naples Airline Run	Italy	Airbus A321	Take passengers from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport to Capodichino International Airport.
18.	Swedish Championship Soaring Course	Södermanland, Sweden	DG-808-S Competition Sailplane	Glide through a representative course of the 2006 World Gliding Championships then land at Eskilstuna Ekeby Airport.
19.	Secret Shuttle	Southern Nevada, United States	Boeing 737-800	Fly from Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport to a secret base called "Area 51".
20.	Game Park Patrol	Guvalala, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe	Air Creation 582-SL Trike Ultralight	Search the local park for a missing baby elephant that has strayed from its herd.
21.	Tutorial 11: Helicopter Maneuvers 1	Līhu'e, Hawaii	Robinson R-22 Beta II	Fly through a course of gates before landing on a moving aircraft carrier.
22.	Down Under	Sydney, Australia	Bombardier Learjet LJ-45	Fly through as many gates as you can over Sydney's stunning scenery in 3 minutes before landing at Sydney Airport.
23.	Austrian Alpine Soaring Course (deluxe version only)	Kitzbüheler Alps, central Austria	DG-808-S Competition Sailplane	Fly a course through the valleys and over the mountains of Austria before returning to Zell am See Airport.
24.	Caribbean Landing	Princess Juliana International Airport, Sint Maarten, former Netherlands Antilles	Bombardier CRJ-700	Approach and land at Sint Maarten.
25.	Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight	Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France	Airbus A321	Show-off an A321 at the Paris Air Show by doing fly-bys over the runway.
26.	Flying Blind Across the Channel	English Channel, between England and France	Cessna C-172-SP Skyhawk G1000	Take-off from Manston Airport, Manston, England and fly an IFR plan through fog to Paris-Plage Airport at Le Touquet, France.
27.	Swiss Outing	Central Switzerland	Cessna C-172-SP Skyhawk	Suffer an engine failure while flying to Interlaken and try to glide safely to an airport.
28.	Innsbruck Approach	Innsbruck Airport, Innsbruck, Austria	Beechcraft Baron 58 G1000	Fly the most challenging localizer into Innsbruck in heavy snow.
29.	Aleutian Cargo Run (deluxe version only)	Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, United States	Grumman G-21-A Goose	Fly from Umnak Island to Chernofski Harbour and then to Dutch Harbour in stormy weather.
30.	Loopy Larry	Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States	Piper J-3C-65 Cub	Land on top of a moving school bus.
31.	Amazon Trek (deluxe version only)	Inambari River, south-eastern Peru	Grumman G-21-A Goose	Fly from Quince Mil to a camp, load up with arcaeological items and transport them to a remote village and choose whether to go looking for a mysterious treasure before returning to the airport.
32.	Tokyo Executive Transport	Tokyo, Japan	Bell 206B JetRanger	Take-off from Haneda and pick up passengers on a rooftop helipad before flying them to Narita International Airport and discovering your co-pilot's secret.
33.	Jet City(deluxe version only)	Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, United States	Bombardier Learjet LJ-45	Fly through all required targets before the timer runs out until landing at Boeing Field.
34.	Denali Base Camp Charter (deluxe version only)	Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, United States	Maule Orion on skis	Fly supplies to a base camp at the foot of Mount McKinley.
35.	Tutorial 12: Helicopter Maneuvers 2	Līhu'e, Hawaii	Robinson R-22 Beta II	Fly a vertical course and then land on the helipad of a moving yacht.
36.	Lost in the Triangle	Off Miami, Florida, United States	Bombardier Learjet LJ-45	Search for a missing ship in the famed Bermuda Triangle where many ships and planes have disappeared.
37.	Jet Truck Drag Race (deluxe version only)	Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States	Extra EA-300-S	You and another stunt plane verse a truck with three afterburning engines (Shockley's Jet Truck) to see who can reach the finish line first.
38.	Civil Air Patrol Search (deluxe version only)	Salmon River Mountains, Idaho, United States	Maule Orion	From the CAP Base at Krassel, search the valleys for a crashed plane before it gets too dark.
39.	Amsterdam-London Airline Run (deluxe version only)	Western Netherlands	Boeing 737-800	Experience a flight to London's Heathrow Airport but a passenger gets ill on the way and you must divert to Rotterdam.
40.	Africa Relief	Great Rift Valley, far-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo	Douglas DC-3	Fly supplies to African villages (Katale & Rutshuru) while Mount Nyiragongo erupts and damages your plane on your approach to Lubero.
41.	Quito Approach	Mariscal Sucre International Airport, Quito, Ecuador	Boeing 747-400	Complete a challenging high-altitude approach to Quito's airport sitting at over 9,000 feet.
42.	Foul Weather Water Rescue	Auckland, New Zealand	Bell 206B JetRanger	Search for a wrecked yacht for survivors in rain and high winds.
43.	Catalina Day Spa	San Pedro Channel, off Los Angeles, California, United States	Cessna C-208-B Grand Caravan	Fly a celebrity from Santa Catalina Island to Santa Monica and land safely when your engine fails.
44.	Limited Options (deluxe version only)	Near Faadhippolhu Atoll, the Maldives	Boeing 737-800	When the plane suffers a fuel leak causing the engines to fail at 35,000 feet, you must decide whether to glide to Malé or Hanimadhoo Island to save 150 passengers from drowning in the Indian Ocean.
45.	Monsoon Approach	Changi International Airport, Singapore	Boeing 747-400	Descend into monsoon conditions to land on runway 02C at Changi International Airport.
46.	747 Test Flight (deluxe version only)	Between Mojave Air and Space Port and Edwards Air Force Base, California, United States	Boeing 747-400	Run tests on a Boeing 747-400 when suddenly your engines fail one-by-one.
47.	Dutch Harbour Approach	Dutch Harbour Airport, Dutch Harbour, Alaska, United States	Beechcraft King Air 350	Land at Dutch Harbour despite pounding weather.
48.	Yakutat Mail Run (deluxe version only)	St. Elias Mountains, Canada/Alaska, United States	Beechcraft King Air 350	Take-off from Burwash Airport, Burwash Landing, Canada and cross the mountains in a rush to land at Yakutat, Alaska before a terrible snowstorm shuts down the airport.
49.	Oil Rig Transport	North Sea, off Oostvoorne, Netherlands	Bell B-206-B JetRanger	Fly a safety inspector to oil rig T-25 to find explosions, flying debris, fire, and 3 workers in a life-or-death situation. You either risk rescuing them or fly off and hope the life guard boat will come in time.
50.	Red Bull Time Trial	Salzburg Airport, Salzburg, Austria	Extra EA-300-S	Fly through 10 gates and see if you can join the team.
51.	Red Bull Time Trial (without arrows)	Salzburg Airport, Salzburg, Austria	Extra EA-300-S	Fly through 10 gates and see if you can join the team. This more realistic version has no arrows or gate numbers to help.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) aircraft are non-playable aircraft built only for scenery and ambience. They sometimes also play a key role in missions. Three aircraft, the McDonnell Douglas MD-83, the Piper Cherokee and the DeHavilland Dash 8 have been supplied as AI only by Microsoft, but several addons from flightsim websites allow these aircraft to be flyable within the simulator.

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 (including a limitation to the duration of a flight) 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 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. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles and the surrounding area only, as opposed to the entire world. The main airport featured is Princess Juliana International Airport. Current Demo Aircraft:

• Beechcraft Baron 58
• Bombardier Learjet 45
• Bombardier CRJ700
• Air Creation trike Ultralight
• Robinson R22

Patches and expansions

Service Pack 1

Microsoft released the first service pack (SP1) for Flight Simulator X on May 15, 2007 to address:

• Activation and installation issues
• Performance enhancements, including multithreading of texture synthesis and autogen to provide modest performance improvements on multi-core computers
• Third-party add-on issues
• Content issues^[13]

Service Pack 2

Microsoft released another service pack for Flight Simulator X about the same time as its expansion pack (below). The update is primarily for Vista users that have DirectX 10 (DX10) compatible graphics adapters. The DX10 version takes advantage of DX10's improved shader model and more pixel pipelines and increased performance for Vista, approaching overall FSX performance on XP. It also adds the capability for players who do not have the expansion pack to participate in multiplayer activities with users of the expansion pack, along with support for multi-core processors.^[14][15] FSX-SP2 also fixes some more bugs over the original release of Flight Simulator X. SP1 is not compatible with SP2 or Acceleration in Multiplayer. People with SP1 cannot enter a session with players who have SP2 or Acceleration in Multiplayer. According to the documentation users are required to install service pack 1 before installing service pack 2.

Flight Simulator X: Acceleration

'Flight Simulator X: Acceleration'
Developer(s)	ACES Studios
Publisher(s)	Microsoft
Distributor(s)	Microsoft
Series	Microsoft Flight Simulator
Version	10.1
Platform(s)	PC (Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista)
Release date(s)	NA October 23, 2007 AUS November 1, 2007 EU, November 2, 2007
Genre(s)	Simulation
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E - E10+ PEGI: 3+ OFLC: G
System requirements 2.0 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM, Windows Vista or Windows XP SP2, 15 GB hard drive space, DVD drive, 2.0Ghz or higher (single core) processor, 128 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card or higher Shader Model 1.1, Internet access(for online multiplayer), Microsoft Flight Simulator X installed.

An F-18 flying over the deserts of California before dawn with afterburners engaged - This aircraft is only available in the Acceleration Pack

Microsoft released their first expansion pack for Flight Simulator in years, called Flight Simulator X: Acceleration, to the US market on October 23, 2007 rated E - E10+ for mild violence, and released to the Australian market on November 1, 2007 rated G.^[16] Acceleration introduces new features, including multiplayer air racing, new missions, and three all-new aircraft, the F/A-18A Hornet, EH-101 helicopter and the P-51D Mustang. In many product reviews, users complained of multiple bugs in the initial release of the pack. One of the bugs, that occurs only in the Standard Edition, is the Maule Air Orion aircraft used in the mission has missing gauges and other problems, as it is a Deluxe Version-only aircraft.

The new scenery enhancements cover Berlin, Istanbul, Cape Canaveral and the Edwards Air Force Base, providing high accuracy both in the underlying photo texture (60 cm/pix) and in the detail given to the 3D objects.

Flight Simulator X: Acceleration can take advantage of Windows Vista, Windows 7, and DirectX 10 as well.^[17]

The expansion pack includes code from both service packs, thus installing them is unnecessary.^[18][19]

• Missions
• Panels
• Conceptual (proposed future) aircraft
• Add-on scenery
• Drivable cars
• Drivable/flyable ships
• Sounds
• Utilities (tools such as a software development kit)
• Additional AI aircraft, taking the form of real life airlines/aircraft
• New "voicepacks" or small programs allowing FSX Air Traffic Control to refer to the user/ai aircraft using the correct callsign i.e. "Heron"
• Spacecraft
• System service packs which improve the performance of the program.

Hardware Compatibility

A common criticism of FSX is its apparent requirement for very high performance hardware, and generally being more dependent on a computer with a higher CPU clock speed, with relatively poor utilization of mutliple processing cores. Furthermore, the original stated system requirements for the game are grossly inaccurate, with many users reporting poor performance on average home hardware.

Unit availability

Microsoft announced in early 2010 that there was currently a shortage of the game in retailers, after receiving complaints. They expressed that they had not stopped manufacturing the popular simulation game, but that there was currently a shortage of available product activation keys. As a result they needed to make an engineering change which resulted in reduced output. New copies of the game returned to shelves around May 2010.

See also

• History of Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Microsoft Flight
• Flight simulator
• Computer simulation
• List of Games for Windows titles

References

1. ^ "Technical Questions". Microsoft. 2007. http://www.fsinsider.com/product/faqs/Pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 
2. ^ Home
3. ^ Remo, Chris (2009-01-22). "Report: Microsoft Makes Big Cuts At Flight Sim Studio". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21981. Retrieved 19 October 2010. 
4. ^ Plunkett, Luke (2009-01-22). "Flight Simulator Devs Grounded By Microsoft Job Cuts". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5137519/flight-simulator-devs-grounded-by-microsoft-job-cuts. Retrieved 19 October 2010. 
5. ^ Ocampo, Jason (2009-01-23). "Microsoft Confirms Aces Closure". IGN. http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/947/947737p1.html. Retrieved 19 October 2010. 
6. ^ "Introducing "Microsoft Flight"". Microsoft. 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/. Retrieved 19 October 2010. 
7. ^ "AirSideTV's Video Coverage of AirVenture 2006". AirSideTV. 28 July 2006. http://www.airsidetv.com/main/play.asp?date=7/28/2006. Retrieved 26 December 2010. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ "Flight Simulator X – Product Information". Microsoft Game Studios. 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulatorx/product_info.html. Retrieved 26 December 2010. 
9. ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator X Gold Edition". Microsoft Store. http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Flight-Simulator-X-Gold-Edition-PC-Game/product/25ACE6F8. Retrieved 26 December 2010. 
10. ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator X". Fly Away Simulation. 2006-02-23. http://flyawaysimulation.com/news/1619/microsoft-flight-simulator-x/. Retrieved 2011-04-24. 
11. ^ "Aeroclub Simuvuelo's Coverage of FSX". Simuvuelo. July 24, 2006. http://simuvuelo.org/pagina01.aspx?npag=93. 
12. ^ "Easter Eggs in FSX?". P-12C Pilot. October 18, 2006. http://blogs.technet.com/p-12c_pilot/archive/2006/10/18/easter-eggs-in-fsx.aspx. 
13. ^ Flight Simulator X Service Pack 1
14. ^ Lee Purcell (2009). "Microsoft Flight Simulator X Soars to New Heights with Multi-Threading". Intel. http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/microsoft-flight-simulator-x-soars-to-new-heights-with-multi-threading/. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 
15. ^ PTaylor's WebLog : FSX-SP2(DX10) delay factors
16. ^ "Flight Simulator X: Acceleration Now Available!". FSInsider. Microsoft. October 23, 2007. http://www.microsoft.com/Products/Games/FSInsider/news/Pages/AccelerationGoesGold.aspx. 
17. ^ "Flight Simulator X Acceleration Expansion Pack". Microsoft. 2007. http://www.microsoft.com/games/pc/fsxacceleration.aspx. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 
18. ^ "Flight Simulator X Service Pack 1". Microsoft. 2009. http://www.microsoft.com/Products/Games/FSInsider/downloads/Pages/FlightSimulatorXServicePack1.aspx. Retrieved 26 December 2010. 
19. ^ "Flight Simulator X Service Pack 2". Microsoft. 2009. http://www.microsoft.com/Products/Games/FSInsider/downloads/Pages/FlightSimulatorXServicePack2.aspx. Retrieved 26 December 2010. 

External links

• Flight Simulator X – Official Site
• Flight Simulator X – Microsoft.com
• Flight Simulator X – Demo
• Microsoft Flight Simulator X at the Open Directory Project