It's been a quarter of a century since Microsoft's Flight Simulator franchise took to the air, and while none of the programmers who developed the original game (which, back in the day, consisted of little more than a few lines representing the ground and some crudely drawn gauges) remain on the team, the game's spirit and love of all things aeronautical remains unchanged.

Hal Bryan, Flight Simulator Community Evangelist with Aces Studio and lifelong real-world pilot, flew into Toronto last week to talk to Evergeek and show off the upcoming 2006 version of the popular PC game, titled Flight Simulator X.

He began the discussion by explaining that recent versions of Flight Simulator have focused on developing a believable world, one that included all 24,000 airports on the planet, featured dynamic, true-to-life weather, realistic moon cycles, and even thousands of accurately placed stars in the sky. But it lacked life. Aside from your plane and the weather, virtually nothing else moved.

In contrast, this year's edition is teaming with bustling entities, ranging from giant boats that cruise in shipping lanes to the dolphins that follow in their wake. These organic elements are controlled through advanced artificial intelligence; the game knows which areas of the world should have cars and flocks of birds, and it generates these things as you fly within viewing distance.

Another visual upgrade has taken place inside the game's aircraft. As usual players are provided with a stunning view of the control consoles of all their vehicles, but now they can also freely look around their cockpits. Glance down and you'll see the rudder pedals of your helicopter moving according to your control. Shift the camera left and you'll look out the window, move it right and you'll see the seat beside you. And everything in the cockpits looks terrific, sporting delicate details, sophisticated lighting, and bump-mapped surface textures.

The demo didn't spotlight the selection of aircraft that will be available in the final release, though Bryan mentioned that there will be at least two dozen aircraft. A detailed look at two planes—a Lear jet and a Cessna pleasure craft—as well as a helicopter of undetermined make was provided, and, as the franchise's fans have come to expect, these aircraft appear almost photo real, including such details as a pilot moving inside the cockpit and bolts that stick out of the metal fuselage. Several new viewing angles have been introduced as well, including a camera under the wing and one just off the plane's tail. They're too disorienting to be used as a default vantage point, but they do provide an excellent means of checking out and admiring both the aircraft and the surrounding scenery.

While the enhanced beauty of Flight Simulator X's world and planes isn't to be ignored, the most significant upgrade to this year's game is the addition of missions. The series' loyal fan base has been brought up playing the game expecting nothing more than to be given the ability to freely explore the world in hyper-realistic aeronautical fashion, but it seems as though the developers are finally giving way to modern video game conventions by providing challenges and goals more exciting than simply piloting a plane from one destination to the next.

The missions range in both scope and difficulty. The simplest of missions simply require players to take off and/or land, sometimes in the midst of a bit of moderately inclement weather. One of the more complex tasks we were shown involved piloting a slow moving Trike Ultralight and dropping sacks of flour on targets floating in the sea. But the most difficult challenge Bryan demonstrated involved landing a helicopter on tiny helipads attached to burning oil rigs in terrible weather. A bit of narrative about having to save workers is thrown in to add drama to the situation. Your co-pilot provides extensive flying advice, but even Bryan, a seasoned pilot, was unable to complete the mission successfully. Indeed, Flight Simulator X may have missions, but the realism (and difficulty inherent) hasn't degraded one iota.

Thankfully there's no need to worry about uber-difficult missions stalling your progress in the game; they're all optional. As usual, players who simply want to take to the sky and do what they like have the freedom to do just that.

One last tidbit worth noting is Microsoft's intention to provide a greater level of support to fans who want to create their own content. Bryan admitted his team hasn't done all it can in the past to provide ambitious players with the tools they needed to develop supplemental content, but he said that will change with Flight Simulator X. He hopes that this edition will see an unparalleled level of mods created and shared amongst the game's community.

Alas, excited fans still have a bit of a wait ahead of them; Flight Simulator X isn't expected to ship until December.
 
 

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