MS flight Simulator and the future of map building

[Syt]

I always liked taking small planes on a long distance journey via small towns/airports for sightseeing purposes (and listening to audio books ).

Currently thinking of flying along the Mediterranean coast line, or follow the Nile south and on to the Cape. Or maybe a South American trek down the Andes, and up Patagonia and the Amazon rainforest into the Carribean.

[MadBurgerMaker]

This guy has a cool idea:  https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1V5K4gS-16ZePTfHg9c5BUC4JzLzxcAFn&shorturl=1&ll=55.31509409667371%2C-58.70572085455868&z=5

I'm doing a hybrid version of that, at least until I get bored and go somewhere else, in the XCub instead of the 172.  VORing around in Canada at the moment on my way to some place called Roberval.  Get some gas there, then fly up to Iqaluit before the hop to Greenland.  I like the avionics in the XCub.  That Youtube dude Trent Palmer has this in his Kitfox. 

[Tamas]

Hah, that's cool thanks.

[Syt]

That seems a bit excessive

Oh, flying along small airports in Russia and Inner Asia could also be cool.

[Caliga]

I couldn't control myself so I bought it last night (via Microsoft Store).  I was surprised at how fast it downloaded and installed... I was watching the Democratic Convention and figured I wouldn't get to check it out till morning, but right after Jill Biden's speech I went into my office to check my PC and it was done.

So... um... wow.  Yeah, I am going to upgrade my video card, but with my current hardware it actually runs pretty well on fairly high gfx settings.

I flew a Cessna Skyhawk from Muhammad Ali/Lou International to Bowman Field, a small civil aviation field close to my house.  Louisville, even at night, was instantly and immediately recognizable.  I clearly could make out Kaden Tower, which is a local architectural landmark right by Bowman Field, and it looked pretty much exactly like I would expect it to IRL at about 1,500 feet.  I circled around for the approach to Bowman and also was amazed to easily recognize a building I used to work in.

Hadn't played a flightsim for years, was only using keyboard and mouse, and didn't bother to learn which keys were mapped to rudders and flaps... so my landing wasn't exactly the best, but I managed to not kill myself and the plane wasn't destroyed on impact.

[Maladict]

Btw, RPS has a list of the 340 or so cities that use photgrammetry for extra realism:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/08/18/all-341-photorealistic-cities-in-microsoft-flight-simulator-2020/

About 300 or so of those are in North America 

[garbon]

Seems like an odd thing to roll one's eyes at.

[celedhring]

UK's list is odd. Portsmouth and Southampton?

[PDH]

And they forgot Laramie, Wyoming.

Way to go, Microsoft, forgetting Meth War Memorial Stadium 

[Caliga]

I fucked around with it some more at lunch.  I've been flying in real world conditions and it's daytime here and clear skies, so I could really see the scenery this time.  I flew again from Louisville International to Bowman, drove around the tarmac for a little bit trying to find the automated taxi guidance, failed to do so, then took off and attempted to buzz my house.  I didn't quite see it but I definitely flew over my subdivision, and could clearly make out the Kroger down the street (even saw the 'Kroger' logo on it).  Then I crossed the Ohio and landed at Clark Regional Airport in Indiana, all the while ignoring and actively disobeying ATC.

[Zanza]

Stuttgart airport is apparently not in the game, just trees there. Probably because it doubles as a US military airfield.

[Grey Fox]

I have no time to playyyyy.

[MadBurgerMaker]

There's a hurricane off the coast of Mexico if any of you want to fly a 152 into it.

E:  The west coast of Mexico, that is.

[Caliga]

I have no time to playyyyy.

I don't have a whole lot either, right now.... too much work.  It's only due to the remote working stuff that I could mess around with it at lunch on my gaming PC.

[Syt]

Some amusing glitches: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/08/19/microsoft-flight-simulators-terrain-glitches-are-excellent-places-to-visit/

Tbf, a lot of them are only noticeable from up close, and I expect them to fine tune the AI over the next weeks/months.