Microsoft Flight Simulator will simulate a '3 trillion tree' and borrow all its animals from Planet Zoo

Microsoft Flight Simulator 202 was a huge hit. It allowed us to fly around a 1:1 scale photorealistic planet Earth, with real-time weather. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 was released today, and its developers want to spend more time on the ground. MFS 2024 allows you to exit your plane and walk around. You can even take pictures of wildlife. According to Jorg Neumann, Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator, PC Gamer reported last week that this means a new level of simulation.

Neumann stated, "Our aim was to make the game look at least as good as any first-person shooter." To achieve this, the team analyzed data from satellites and "we marked 28,000 tiles." We said this is sand. This is pebbles. This is little rocks. We did 28,000 tiles. I think they were 100 by 100 meters. "We fed it into the system."

This is a staggering amount data, and I imagine it's necessary to simulate not only the airspace on the planet but also all the stuff that's on the ground. Neumann said, "We know the location of every bush and tree. "We have 3 trillion trees." We are now confident that we know where rocks and other things are.

What does all this detail mean, other than the fact that it will give you a realistic environment to walk on and take photos of? Neumann said that by increasing the resolution of the terrain by a factor 4,000, the game will accurately simulate the feeling of landing on different surfaces such as pavement, dirt, plowed field, and even snow.

"The truth is that if you land your plane on a field which has been plowed you will crash it. It depends on the plane's weight, but if you have a lighter plane, it is likely that you will nose dive forward. Now we have literally every little stone, and your tires are going to hit them physically."

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a simulation of all those rocks, trees and plowed field. However, it has gotten a little help with wildlife.

Neumann: "I've been working with Frontier Developments since a long time." "I don’t know if they are familiar to you, but they produce Planet Zoo amongst many other things. I called my CEO friend. He is Jonny [Watts] and I said to him, Hey Jonny, I am working on Flight Sim. Can I have your Planet Zoo animals? He said, "Why not?" We've actually taken all the Planet Zoo creatures and stuck them in our world. It's cool, you know?"

I think it's cool. I would love to know if developers regularly contact each other and borrow stuff from each other. "Hello, this is World of Tanks?" I need tanks. Can I... could I please have some your tanks?" It would save you a lot of time, especially when your team is busy simulating three trillion trees. Microsoft Flight Simulator launches today on Windows and Steam.