Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is prepared for take-off, so buckle your seats and enjoy the beautiful sights. Developed by Asobo Studio, the Microsoft game is the latest instalment in the Xbox Game Studios’ popular flight simulation series. It is regarded as one of the latest and most modern simulation experiences to exist because of the game’s realistic and advanced flying.
The highly anticipated game is set to introduce enhanced features and immersive experiences to attract new enthusiasts and seasoned pilots. Microsoft Flight Simulator is an exciting way for players to see the world from the comfort of their sofa. In this article, we’ll discuss everything there is about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, including its release date, gameplay, and more!
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Release Date
Microsoft Simulator 2024 launched on November 19, 2024, on Windows PC and Xbox Series X/S. What’s even more exciting is that players got to play the game on the first day of its launch on PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, so they made sure to buy the subscription beforehand. This ensures you dive into the cockpit instantly without buying the whole game!
Due to some time zone differences, some players got their hands on the game a day later, but the game was worth the wait. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Xbox Cloud Gaming is also available for enthusiastic pilots. Unfortunately, it didn’t launch on the light simulator PS5. But it isn’t off the table since some upcoming Microsoft titles are slated to launch on the platform.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Graphics & Features
The exciting Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Xbox game is set to transform the way we play aviation games. It’ll introduce various new features for beginners and experienced pilots, including an all-new aerodynamic engine. Players can customize aircraft surfaces to match their flying style and analyze their aircraft performance with a new system.
On top of this, the highly anticipated game is set to introduce whole new weather effects. It allows you to come across tornadoes, cirrus clouds, and aurora borealis in some missions. These sudden weather shifts make the experience feel more realistic and thrilling. The rotors, lightning, avionics, and planes have been enhanced to look and feel better in the game!
There are a total of 130 Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 planes, gliders, and helicopters to keep the excitement alive, with each one more unique than the last. The overall world within the game has also been greatly improved, with detailed water, ground, and trees. The developer has gone all out with this entry by introducing new activities like Red Bull Air Racing and more!
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 World & Weather Systems
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 offers a detailed Earth featuring more than 500 cities, along with photogrammetry to make the whole experience feel more realistic. The game consists of 27 biomes with innumerable plants that are designed to change as the seasons change. The lighting and clouds make the weather system and the gaming experience feel far more real.
Players can also see ships, animals, and planes in the game. It also features a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) system that simulates wind and wake turbulence within a 10-kilometer radius. The game realistically represents the low-visibility conditions, with the dynamic weather system influencing the difficulty and availability of different missions in the game’s Career Mode.
Your planes also contain completely functional windshield wipers to improve cockpit management in the middle of a storm or rainy weather. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 utilizes cloud data for weather, meaning updates are quicker and easier. You’ll get a gorgeous aerial view of a highly realistic landscape with different land below, including forests, mountains, etc.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Gameplay
Career Mode
This is one of the most popular and exciting modes that players can’t wait to jump into, which allows players to begin their journey as pilots at any airport, complete missions, and gradually make their way to the top. During this journey, you will learn new skills via the certification tree and acquire even more aircraft from the massive Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 aircraft list.
Furthermore, you can also create your very own custom avatar, which will allow you to get additional credits based on your performance in some of the missions. Feel free to hire more staff if you need some help with managing the fleet. The Xbox game also promises “virtually unlimited” missions, which might sound like a threat to those completionists out there.
However, with those missions, the only disadvantage is that they’re only available within Career Mode, despite being cargo ops, rescue, aerial advertising, and aerial fighting. The aircraft that players can utilize within the mode also differ greatly. Asobo claims players can use most “but not all” aircraft in the mode, but it’s available for third parties to use if they wish to participate.
Career Paths, Mission System & Challenges
The game features a wide range of jobs that players can choose from, so you can either fly cargo, search for people, be a Medevac pilot, or fight fires. However, as you progress through the game, you’ll unlock more exciting jobs, such as Helicopter Specializations, Commercial, Pilot Licenses, Night Currency Ratings, and Endorsements (High Performance, Turboprop).
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 also features a mission system that’s designed to change every day. It’ll challenge you to quickly rescue people and fly aeroplanes for ads, air ambulances, cargo, and people. Some of the challenges within the game are Red Bull Air Races, Rally Racing, Reno Air Races with New Roswell Courses, Low-Altitude Challenges, Rally Races, etc.
Many new aircraft have been introduced in the game, including the A400M Atlas, A330-743L Beluga XL, A321LR, A-10 Thunderbolt 10, Jetson ONE eVTOL, S-64F Aircrane, and the Skyship 600. If this isn’t enough to keep you hooked to the game, there are also two different types of Hot Air Balloons and the Powrachute Sky Rascal to keep you company!
Players looking for immediate gratification as soon as they jump into the game should explore the Challenge League. There, you get to go up against players in different activities. At this point, you might be wondering how it is different from the challenge featured in 2020’s Flight Simulation experience. The latest MSF version introduces three new challenges every week.
These challenges range from two to three minutes, with players competing against each other at different levels, including bronze, silver, and gold. The game also supports a leaderboard system. Keep in mind that the latest flight model is highly realistic. So if you take up a challenge like the Grand Canyon race with an F/A-18 Hornet. You need to make sure to master the game well!
Enhanced Physics System & Photometric Lighting
The game’s physics system has been greatly enhanced to ensure an exciting gameplay experience and to accommodate the latest aircraft types. More than 10,000 rigid body surfaces are featured in the game to simulate the shape of any kind of aircraft, with balloons, cloth, and soft-body physics also being supported. Ground and water handling have also been improved.
On top of this, brand-new systems for plane failure and wear and tear have been added to the game. The game’s world has seen some huge graphical improvements, from better vehicle traffic to ship traffic. The same goes for the lighting. Owing to a more enhanced and realistic photometric lighting system, everything else in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 looks amazing.
Flight Planning, Aircraft Systems, & Hand-Made Locations
Since the game was officially announced, fans conveyed their feedback and expectations from the upcoming Flight Planner, so they were thrilled to know that it builds upon the previous one and has integrated their wishes. Although players can still plan their routes and allocate fuel, MSF 2024 also supports IFR Charts, ETOPS planning, NOTAMS, IFR, and VFR map layers.
What’s even more interesting is that you’ll be able to utilize the flight planner on your mobile or through a web browser. The game also allows you to conduct inspections and walkaround checks while you implement fuel, electrical, and hydraulic systems. It also implements payload and passenger systems for different aircraft. Which Asobo claims are “highly accurate.”
The game features avionics like Honeywell Primus Epic 2 and Universal UNS-1 FMS. The developer has confirmed the game consists of more than 150 airports, 2000 points of interest (POIs), 10,000 helicopters, 2000 glider airports, and 900 oil rigs. Each location has been properly and accurately handcrafted for players, which is exciting compared to previous games.
Players can expect this number to keep increasing as the World Updates start pouring in. The developer has promised that it’s the “most detailed re-creation of planet Earth to date.” To put it into raw numbers, this means that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 features over 40,000 airports and 100,000 square kilometres of countryside (turned to life with the help of photogrammetry). In addition to this, there are almost three trillion trees, 80,000 helipads, and 1.5 billion buildings.
Training & Certification System
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 features a massive training system with 64 modules to help you learn about flying. Once you learn, you can easily earn some cash and get better jobs. There are different activities for players to tackle in these training sessions, including cargo deliveries, passenger flights, and more. These are all set in an extremely detailed landscape of cities and mountains in the background. So, prepare to dive into the hustling and bustling of airports!
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Price
Since the game was announced officially, players began wondering about the buying options for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Its price was based on the edition you wanted to get since there were four of them. The Standard Edition is priced at $69.99 and consists of more than 65 aircraft and 150 airports, whereas the Deluxe Edition has 10 more aircraft and 5 more airports.
On the other hand, the Premium Deluxe Edition was priced at $129.99 and contained 25 more aircraft and 10 more airports. It was the Aviator Edition that grabbed the attention of enthusiasts and skilled pilots since it consisted of everything from the Premium Deluxe Edition and cost $199.99. However, since the game is officially already out, players can’t preorder the game.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 System Requirements
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 features high-end and advanced graphics mixed with a highly realistic environment. For these reasons, a powerful hardware system is required to run the game smoothly so that players have a seamless gaming experience. Here are the minimum, recommended, and ideal system requirements for users to make sure their system meets them:
Minimum System Requirements
OS – Windows 10/11
CPU – AMD Ryzen 5 2600X or Intel Core i7-6800K
GPU – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 5700
RAM – 16 GB
VRAM – 4 GB
Storage – 50 GB
Bandwidth – 10 Mbps
Recommended System Requirements
OS – Windows 10/11
CPU – AMD Ryzen 7 2700X or Intel Core i7-10700K
GPU – AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
RAM – 32 GB
VRAM – 8 GB
Storage – 50 GB
Bandwidth – 50 Mbps
Ideal System Requirements
OS – Windows 10/11
CPU – AMD Ryzen 7 7900X or Intel Core i7-14700K
GPU – AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
RAM – 64 GB
VRAM – 12 GB
Storage – 50 GB
Bandwidth – 100 Mbps
Conclusion
That’s all there is to know about Xbox’s latest flight simulation game, which has taken the skies by storm. Despite Flight Simulator’s popularity back in the day, no one could have predicted that the 2020 game would perform exceptionally well with its photorealistic visuals. It officially crossed 15 million players, so there’s reason to believe that the latest title will also perform well.
While there isn’t a Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 PS5 version at the moment, PlayStation players shouldn’t lose hope since there are always chances for that to happen. In the meantime, Xbox and PC players should grab their flight simulator controls and start cruising! You can get the Xbox game by heading to the most reliable site online, i.e., the Electronic First website.
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